Denouement
by ps01032160198913
Summary: For a moment, he stared at her face. Now, he didn't believe in fairytales or Prince Charmings, but he did believe in sleeping beauties.
1. Chapter 1

_Italicized parts = Flashback_

* * *

They gave the performers a huge round of applause which went on for about minute. The crowd was well-mannered yet still managing to be as expressive as they could be. Everyone was smiling, some standing up getting ready to leave, and others chattering on about how the performance went, complimenting and giving their little personal critics.

Ezra turned his head and looked at her. Her shining smile beaming at the stage before them, her hands clapping with strong enthusiasm and eyes gleaming in awe.

"You liked it?" Ezra asked and smiled at her. He had promised her this. Nothing felt more satisfying than seeing her this way, fawning over the show, the stage, everything. He kept staring at her, locking the memory and keeping the image forever inside him. A promise held and kept true.

Without turning to face him, Aria nodded and in return, he leaned down a bit and planted a soft kiss on her forehead.

* * *

"Shi—" She quietly hissed, stopping herself from finishing the word as the drinks on the floor spilled all over the wooden floorboard. No sounds were to be made if she wanted to get out of here as quickly as possible.

The buzzing in her head had stopped after a few minutes. Drinking wasn't her forte - drinking _a lot_ anyway. Last night was an exception, one she wouldn't mind making again if she were to be honest. Aria hurriedly rolled up her black tights back on while stealing a few wary glances at the man in the king sized bed. She wasn't too sure if it was a good thing that he was sleeping like a baby. Maybe it was if she wanted to get to work on time. But there was a spark, admittedly, that went off last night, but then again that was probably the booze talking.

At last, with all her garments properly on, her disheveled hair somewhat tamed, and her groggy vision back to normal, Aria grabbed her purse and began heading for the door. But with a sudden hesitance pulling her back in, she turned her head at him, debating whether or not she should leave some sort of souvenir or evidence that she was ever there. Her phone number or her full name written sloppily on a piece of paper sounded like a good idea. Perhaps a goodbye kiss would suffice although he wouldn't have a clue of ever getting one nor would it help him finding her again, if he wanted to see her again anyway, but she assumed one night stands didn't work that way.

Shaking her head in self-ridicule, Aria smoothed her shirt and quietly left the studio apartment hoping she looked suitable enough to go straight to work.

_"To making assistant editorial page editor—" Spencer paused for a breath. "That's a mouthful." The girls laughed and raised their glasses as Spencer finished her toast. "Congratulations, babe. You did it!"_

_With a toothy grin, Aria Montgomery shook her head in slight embarrassment. "Thank you…" She said and clinked her glass with Spencer Hastings, a partner in crime whether it be work or leisure._

_"Drinks are on her everybody!" Spencer added with a smile and swigged down her glass of vodka as if it was just water._

_Aria raised her eyebrows and simply ran her thumb up and down the sweating glass of cranberry juice in her hand, not even a cranberry vodka, just plain ol' cranberry. Being promoted and getting wasted on the same night felt as though she would be contradicting herself and her responsibilities. So, she remained in control of her alcohol uptake and promised to stay sober since she was required to report for work the very next morning. And surely, arriving for work with a killer hangover was going beyond the border of good work ethics._

_"The small one? No way. No. No. No." His blue eyes gleamed as he continued to laugh at his friend's face. "You're dreaming, pal." Hardy patted his friend's shoulder and looked at the girls from across the room. "Those girls are clearly not from around here, can't you tell?"_

_"Yes, I like the small one." He said almost in a whisper. "Believe me, there was a connection since she walked in."_

_There were four of them; all different hair colors and appearances, mostly dressed in dark stockings and dress shirts. They seemed like women with good and stable career. The men felt lucky since there were so many choices which meant they didn't have to fight off one another if they happened to want the same target although it was a little intimidating watching the girls who most probably earned twice the salary than they did._

_The guys continued to observe the gleeful women. They had been for a while, still arguing and betting on who they could pick up out of the four girls for almost half an hour. This was their usual Friday night. A few banters and insults thrown at each other and ultimately if lucky, some shameless one-night stands with some girls from the bar._

_"A connection?" Hardy repeated and bellowed a laugh. "Yeah, miles away. Hundreds and thousands of miles a way. That's a hell of a connection, pal."_

_He moved his head to the side, slightly appalled at his friend's doubt in him. "You, my friend, should never patronize someone. Watch and learn."_

_"Will you please stop him before he hurts himself?" Hardy turned to his other friend._

_"Well if he does happen to hurt himself. That's what the doctor is here for." Wren quipped and watched his friend getting closer to the girls' table._

_Spencer threw her head back while laughing heartily. "He lost to a housing court? That's like losing a game of kindergarten musical chairs." She remarked as Aria burst out laughing._

_Not fully getting the joke, Emily looked at her friends questioningly. "You don't…lose to a kindergarten musical chair, do you?"_

_"No, Em, you don't." Aria cocked her head at Emily._

_"Well excuse me, I've never played musical chairs before." Emily defended herself._

_"Nor did you have a childhood." Spencer said quietly._

_Aria smiled. "The teacher doesn't take out the extra chair like they're supposed to." She explained to her. "That way all the kids win."_

_"Exactly." Spencer said. "…So how the hell did he manage to lose that case?" She snorted and grabbed her drink and frowned at how empty it was._

_"Here, I got it." Aria said getting up from her seat and headed for the bar._

_"You're the best." Spencer shouted after her._

_Emily wrinkled her face, a bit puzzled. "How did we get to discussing oxford commas to housing courts?"_

_Hardy and Wren carefully watched their friend turning around for a second. The two men shrugged at him and gestured at the small brunette woman walking past by him._

_"I can't watch this." Hardy commented and right before he could turn around, Wren grabbed him by his shoulders._

_"Yes, you can and you will. He needs as much moral support as he can get." Wren said as they continued to observe their friend, telepathically giving the said support._

_Aria approached the bar and drummed her fingers on the table, waiting for the bartender to cross her end of the counter._

_Walking up to her, Ezra leaned on the bar stool, putting his right elbow on the cushy seat. "I bet you fifty bucks you're gonna turn me down." Ezra said with a crooked smile glued on his face as he waited for her answer._

_A bit taken aback, Aria sized him up. He had gray-blue eyes, somewhat charming but his coming onto her opposed the idea of him ever being chivalrous. He did have a good set of teeth. That was always a feature she never thought of overlooking. Something about nice teeth seemed to always win her over._

_"Impressive." She told him, making him smile wider. More teeth._

_"I agree." He said as his confidence increased by the seconds. Ezra took mental snapshots of her face; the huge doe hazel eyes, the pouting rosy lips, and the prominent eyebrows. She carried a strange yet alluring look like a real life porcelain doll and Ezra could immediately tell she was still young basing on her smooth skin, no wrinkles or bags under her eyes._

_Slowly reaching for her wallet, Aria scoffed. "Oh no, it's impressive that you think I can't spare fifty dollars." She took out a crispy fifty dollar bill from the fold of her wallet. "Rather offensive as a matter of a fact especially for someone who recently received a promotion." She revealed. "But good thing you caught me in a generous mood." She said as she handed him the crispy fifty dollar bill._

_Rolling her eyes, she glided off to the other end of the bar counter to get away from him. Ezra stood still, pressing the hand with the money against his chest._

_"Dr. Wren, what's our diagnosis?" Hardy asked as they both winced at the sight of Ezra looking down at the money almost shell-shocked from what just happened._

_"I believe that is a severe third-degree burn with a sprained ego." Wren answered, playing along. "Not too certain if he'll make it."_

_Hardy shook his head. "I warned him. Didn't I warn him?" He tapped Wren's chest with the back of his hand and turned around._

_"You did."_

_"Never listens to me."_

_"No, he doesn't." Wren nodded in agreement._

_Another half an hour went by, Ezra continued to glare at the women's table, keeping his focus on the same target, the one that caused him to crash and burn not too long ago._

_A waitress approached their table. "Here you go. An apple martini, yes?" She asked as she carried a tray of drinks._

_"Yes, could you please send it to that table over there?" Ezra said pointing at the women across from him. "The one in the gray top?" He said and followed the waitress with his eyes._

_"Sure." The waitress said and immediately walked away._

_Wren furrowed his eyebrow. "What are you doing?"_

_"Spending the money she gave me. On her." Ezra replied, not taking his eyes away from her._

_"Why can't you buy me a drink?" Hardy chimed in. "I like drinks." He mumbled to himself and shrugged._

_Spencer reluctantly turned her head to the waitress. "Another one?" She questioned as the waitress shrugged lightly._

_"Who keeps sending these drinks…if they don't mind me asking?" Aria looked up at the waitress who pointed at Ezra's table, "Oh for heaven's sake." Aria sighed, looking back at him. He flashed a smile and shook his head at her like he was caught doing something he wasn't supposed to be doing._

_"Ooo." The other girls said in unison._

_"No." Aria widened her eyes at them. "Not 'ooo'…" She turned to the waitress once again. "Please tell them to stop sending these drinks. We're doing fine on our own." She flashed a quick smile at the waitress as she handed the drink to her._

_"Why not 'ooo'?" Emily asked as Aria gave the apple martini to Spencer who gladly accepted._

_"Because he's just like every other guy in this bar. Unnecessarily overconfident, cocky, arrogant, pretentious, thinks he's the bees knees. I might as well grab a thesaurus and give you a list of these words, you'll probably find his name written on it."_

_"Okay, point made." Spencer interrupted._

_"Plus, what guy still uses pick-up lines anymore?"_

_"What line did he use?" Spencer asked, suddenly intrigued._

_Shooting a glare at her friend, Aria let a deep breath out. "Not the point, Spence!"_

_"Sweetie, you're at a bar." Hanna defended. "All guys do that here."_

_Unlike the rest of the girls, Hanna was not a journalist nor an editor. But she did work as a secretary for a fellow editor in the same building. She was content with it, made decent amount of money without doing twice the work she would be doing if she were to go up another level with the rest of the girls. They had only known each other for three years with the exception of Spencer and Aria who grew up together in a quiet suburbs of Pennsylvania. But even after those little years, they had grown attached to one another like old friends._

_"Yes, thank you for pointing that out." Aria licked her lips. "I just need—"_

_"No. What you need is to stop holing up in that oversized loft of yours and come out with us more often." Hanna said._

_"Excuse you, my apartment is not oversized. It's habitable." She retorted, hating the word 'loft'. It made her sound like some prude. "And this is exactly why I don't go out. Meeting guys like him…" She faked a shudder._

_"You'll get used to it."_

_Aria huffed through her nostrils. "I don't wanna get used to it."_

_"I don't know, Aria. Maybe Hanna's right. You should just give it a chance." Emily chimed in. "You've been doing everything right so far—"_

_"Exactly!" Aria cut her off. "Who knows what'll happen if I do end up doing new things? I don't plan on having any rugs pulled under my feet. Anything can happen."_

_"Great guiltless sex with a stranger? Possibly on a rug?" Spencer spew out with a sly smile, her eyes peering over the martini glass._

_Aria glared at Spencer. "Okay…" She reached for Spencer's drink. "I think you've had a little too much now. I'll take that. Thank you." She said and put the glass back on the small round table in front of them._

_"Alright." Wren said, putting some money on the table. "I've got to turn in early. Morning shift." He told the guys as he stood up, straightening his coat._

_"Yeah, I'll come with." Hardy said after Wren. He enjoyed tagging along with him. It meant free cab rides home. "Ezra, man, you comin'?"_

_Ezra shook his head. He had his elbows on the table, chin leaning on his knuckles still quite enthralled by the same group of women sitting in a circle at the same spot for almost two hours._

_"C'mon, mate, some other time, yeah?" Wren said. "Those ladies are way off limits. Or do you need another harsh telling?"_

_He shut their voices out. Ezra convinced himself that he wasn't coming out here alone; he never had and he never will. One girl wasn't going to change that._

_"He's coming over…" Spencer said in a singsong voice as she subtly gave a side glance._

_Aria exhaled exasperatingly and counted down the seconds before he was breathing down her neck. The girls shared looks and Spencer mouthed 'yes' to Aria. But it was already midnight and Aria was starting to feel worn out by this place plus she had to get up early. When she invited the girls to celebrate, she didn't expect the celebration to last so long._

_"Hi." Ezra greeted them with his signature smile. He was right behind Aria's leather couch and she didn't bother turning around to look at him. Surprisingly for him, three out of the four girls shot back a genuine smile while Aria stayed aloof with her face straight as an arrow. He leaned in, moving closer to Aria's face. "I've noticed you haven't been drinking the drinks I've been sending. If you're not very fond of the drinks here, I have a minibar back at my place." He said in a low voice. "I'm quite the mixologist."_

_The girls watched on, trying to maintain the smile on their face, hoping Aria would just take the bait. She just needed to let loose for once, reward herself tonight._

_Turning around to face him, Aria inhaled deeply and forced a smile. "You're relentless."_

_"I'm aware." He grinned at her and slowly licked his lips._

_She looked back at her friends and gave her an approving look. With a sigh, she got up from her seat and walked to him. As she got closer, Aria shook her head at him. "An hour. That's it."_

_He didn't really know what exactly she meant by that, but he nodded along anyway and let her lead the way as they headed out._

_"You were serious about being promoted, weren't you?" Ezra asked as they entered his apartment. It was nothing special; just the typical New York apartment, a one-bedroom bachelor pad._

_"Hence the bar." She stated while scanning his place. "Your place is very…" She chose her word carefully. "Cozy."_

_"And I suspect by cozy, you mean small?"_

_Aria pressed her lips together. "No…" Yes. She just wasn't used to being in a closeted space especially for someone who spent their days at an enormous office building and back home where the ceiling was higher than it really needed to be._

_"Please, save me the euphemisms." He told her. "My life has been nothing but a euphemism."_

_Creasing her eyebrows, Aria looked at him and pondered at his choice of words, wondering what he meant by that. She would save it for later whenever he was ready to talk. Aria looked around once again, seeing no minibars. "So, where is it?" She asked throwing her arms around and looked at him._

_He smiled slowly. "I don't have a minibar. I have a kitchen island…which is kinda the same thing, right?"_

_"Oh, you." She squinted at him in disbelief. "You brought me here under false pretenses." She said, making him laugh for a second._

_"I'll still make us drinks. I bet you've never had a Fitz."_

_"A Fitz?"_

_"Ezra Fitz. Nice to meet you." He extended his hand to her for a formal handshake, but she took a step back._

_She crossed her arms above her chest and raised her right eyebrow. "You named a drink after yourself?" She questioned, well…mocked._

_With a confident smile, Ezra jutted his head at her. "Feel free to look around. Make yourself comfortable."_

_Moments later, he was carrying a round tray of their drinks while she found herself sitting on his bed, nonchalantly flipping over pages of an untitled book._

_"Whoa, whoa, whoa." He rushed to her, putting the tray on the floor. "That is a restricted area." He said grabbing the book from her hand. The woman was already on his bed, reading his stuff? Clearly, she was not familiar with boundaries._

_"Alright. Relax." She told him and bounced on the bed. "Hmm." She let out, her head raised up, giving the place another reviewing._

_"Good? Are we comfortable?" Ezra asked casually._

_She slipped off her flats and watched him reach for their drinks on the floor. "You should stay down there." She said gesturing the floor._

_Ezra wrinkled his face. "…This is my house."_

_"And I'm your guest." She reminded him. "Which means you're obliged to make sure I'm comfortable and I'm comfortable with you on the floor."_

_"Unbelievable." He muttered but complied anyway. "I didn't sign up for this." He continued to grumble under his breath as Aria smiled at herself._

_A pushover? Or was he simply following orders to get what he wants later on? Aria observed him as he sat on the floor beside the bed, taking a huge gulp of the drink._

_"So, are we gonna have sex?" Aria asked, catching him off guard as she slipped off her dark stockings, feeling such relief from letting her legs breathe again._

_He coughed lightly and looked at her legs with wide eyes. "If you insist." He lifted his eyes at her. "Or we could just talk." He joked and looked at her for a moment. The way her shoulders tensed up showed she was nervous, but obviously trying her best to cover it by making blunt comments and demands. He thought that to be interesting._

_"Isn't that why you brought me here in the first place?"_

_He brushed his cheek for a second, feeling reluctant now. "You really haven't done this before, have you?"_

_"No. I have a thing called dignity." She flat-out said with no hesitance. "Why? Does that disappoint you?"_

_"No. Not at all." He flashed a warm smile. "Here." He handed her a cold glass._

_"What is this?"_

_"Straight vodka."_

_She examined it, bringing the glass up to her face. "Why is it pink?" She squinted at him._

_"Strawberry syrup. Something to soften the blow." He explained, but was not certain if what he just said was actually true. He didn't know a wide knowledge of drinks; whatever seemed good, he served._

_"Then it's not straight vodka." She pointed out._

_With a heavy sigh, he glared at her. "Just try it, will you?"_

_"It sounds awful."_

_"Just. Try." He demanded and exhaled sharply. This girl was working him up. Out of all the women in the bar, he asked himself why he picked this one up. He could actually be doing something right now, something he planned on doing instead of conversing with this woman who was starting to feel like a challenge. And he just wasn't in the mood for any challenges tonight._

_She rolled her eyes at him and apprehensively took a small sip. The taste spread out inside her mouth like a bittersweet candy mixed with rubbing alcohol. Aria swallowed hard, feeling her throat burning. She looked down at him. "That's a strange flavor."_

_"You're a strange flavor." He quipped and watched her settle herself on his bed; her stomach pressed flat on the bed with her feet up like a little teenage girl at a slumber party, and the glass in her small hands with her head peeking over the edge._

_"Here, this one." He took her glass out of her hands and replaced it with a different one._

_"What's this?"_

_"Fitz."_

_She gave another eyeroll still not over the fact that he would do something so vain. Aria took a small sip and immediately made an unpleasant face. "No. No. No. Oh, ugh, that is gross. It's like pure rubbing alcohol on steroids." She said and reached for her original drink. "Sad to say, the Fitz is not for me."_

_"Can I ask you something?" He said not looking at her instead he kept his eyes on his drink looking contemplative._

_"Shoot." She said before taking another sip of the strawberry vodka._

_"When was the last time you've done this?"_

_She shook her head once. "I don't do this." She reminded him again._

_"I mean when was the last time you've slept with someone?" He said and slowly turned around to see how she would react._

_"Four years ago." Her voice sounded without hesitance nor any sign of embarrassment._

_Ezra arched his eyebrows. It was hard to believe that someone looking like her went four years without doing it, but he didn't question it any further. He figured out that she was probably a crazy workaholic and perhaps that was her priority back then and even now._

_He had to shift his neck a bit so he could face her fully as they talked. Ezra smiled and craned his neck closer to her face and slowly planted a small kiss on the tip of her small button nose._

_After a few quiet beats, she shook her head at him. "I thought we agreed on just talking…" She said as she slowly took another sip._

_"How could I possibly resist?" He let out and stared on, hoping she'd just do something to him for once._

_Her hand went up to his cheek, brushing it lightly as she gazed at him with sleepy eyes. She tilted her head to the side and continued to stroke his face. The alcohol was definitely working now; her stomach felt warmer than usual and her head felt light and to her shock, she was touching his face, caressing it for absolutely no reason._

_"So, what do you do?" She asked, her voice slightly raspy and her hand pulling back._

_More talking. Ezra turned away and finished his drink. "Stockbroker."_

_"Stockbroker?" Her voice went up an octave._

_He shut his eyes and realized she was no different from the women he had been with. They were all after the money. "Yep." He said nonchalantly._

_She chuckled. "You don't look or act like a stockbroker." She commented. "Which is good, I guess. Stockbrokers…" She repeated with a condescending tone this time._

_"Good because I'm not a stockbroker." He turned around to face her again and smiled to himself, relieved with the fact that she was not some gold-digging broad._

_"I didn't think so." She smiled at him._

_"But you have something against them?" He questioned and retreated back to what he thought for a moment. This was new to him. She was throwing him off his game for a moment. It was a bit unsettling, but interesting._

_"It's a business of chance which makes them all gamblers. It's—" She shrugged lightly._

_"And being a…" He waited for her to complete the blanks._

_"Journalist." She finally told him with a small nod._

_"Means you only settle for hard, cold facts and you don't like to bet on chances because it would cost you too much." He finished for her. "You're a journalist?" He asked a bit surprised._

_"Why must you sound so shocked?" She smiled once again and drank more._

_"Just didn't really see you as a journalist."_

_"What did you see me as then?"_

_"The girl who was coming home with me, asking for a good time." He said putting it in a joking matter although he was serious of it._

_"I didn't ask. I was compelled." She said to him and rolled her eyes. "So, again, what do you do?"_

_"I do this. Bring stubborn girls home, make them a glass of Fitz, have them hate the Fitz—" He gestured around him and her and their situation._

_"I'm never going to get a straight answer from you, am I?" She cut him off._

_"Don't girls love the mysterious aspect of a guy?"_

_"Not all." She yawned, covering her mouth with her hand._

_"Oh, right, because if I don't open myself up to you, you won't be able to assess me or put me on trial. And you like control, don't you? You've been nothing but control throughout the night." He said almost as if to insult her._

_She clenched her jaw, listening to his words was starting to make her sound like a snob. She wasn't - at least that was what she told herself._

_"Is that how I seem to you?" She asked her voice going a bit softer. She yawned again and gripped her fingers around the glass so it wouldn't spill._

_Ezra looked at her, studying her eyes. "No, I'm sorry. That was uncalled for." Then came a moment of silence between the two._

_"Is it my turn to ask you something?" Aria said softly._

_"I wasn't keeping tabs, but sure."_

_"What did you mean when you said your life was nothing but a euphemism?"_

_Ezra furrowed his brow. "Wow, you actually listen to what I say?"_

_"I'm a journalist. We're taught to remember things, verbatim." Her shoulders gave a casual shrug._

_"I guess I just meant—" He sighed and finished his drink. "I don't know. I like to sound intelligent." He said although not convincing her. He shook his empty glass at her. "Refill. Don't you dare go anywhere. I promise I'm coming back." He quickly said and ambled out of the room._

_Aria gave the room another skimming. No picture frames around, not even posters of his interests. Nothing for her to assess him like he said. She sighed and moved closer to the headboard, her head searching for the pillow. She hugged the glass and closed her eyes, and minutes later, she was falling into a deep sleep._

_"Hey, can't talk right now." Ezra said, placing the landline phone between his ear and shoulder while his hands remained occupied with the drinks._

_"You home?" Hardy's voice sounded a bit gurgled due to the poor signal._

_"Yes." He answered. "With the small one." He said proudly._

_"You bastard." Hardy exclaimed. "You didn't kidnap her, did you? That doesn't count."_

_"Yeah, yeah, I gotta go. Call you in the morning, alright?" He said and before he could hang up, he could hear Hardy calling him a bastard over and over again._

_Ezra entered the room and saw her facing the other side of the room with her back turned to him. He smiled and excitedly walked towards her._

_"Sorry. Took longer than I expected." He said and placed the glasses on his nightstand. No response. Ezra furrowed his brow and looked over. She had one hand under her cheek and the other securely wrapped around the glass pressed against her chest._

_Ezra's shoulders slumped at the discovery and gingerly took the glass out of her hand and placed it back on the nightstand. He walked around the other side of the bed and took his shirt and pants off, leaving his boxers on. He climbed into bed and pulled the blanket up to cover themselves._

_For a moment, he stared at her face. Now, he didn't believe in fairytales or Prince Charmings, but he did believe in sleeping beauties. Looking at her pouty lips, Ezra sighed. "I didn't even get your name." He whispered and turned away from her - a little bit disappointed at how the night turned out._

_The blinds were still up from last night allowing the sun to give her a wake up call so early in the morning. Aria sat up swiftly and exposed her wrist, checking her watch. She widened her eyes and climbed out of the bed._

_"Shi—" She quietly hissed, stopping herself from finishing the word as the drinks on the floor spilled all over the wooden floorboard. No sounds were to be made if she wanted to get out of here as quickly as possible._

She furrowed her brow and stood still for a moment. "I thought you weren't coming in today." Aria said, seeing Spencer sitting in her office chair.

Spencer shot her a glare. "I wasn't planning to but you wouldn't answer my calls last night. I got worried." She got up. "First day of being in a higher rank and I'm already covering up for your ass."

"I'm sorry!" Aria said and put her heavy folder on top of the wooden desk. She sighed deeply and walked back to close the door.

"Rough night?" Spencer asked with a cheeky smile on her face. "How was he?" She crossed her legs.

Laughing to herself, Aria shook her head. "He was…fine." She shrugged at her friend and walked over to her.

Squatting down, Aria opened one of the bottom drawers. It was her emergency drawer; it contained a new toothbrush, an unopened box of toothpaste, a box of tampons and pads, and some folded clean underwear. Every time she thought of the emergency drawer, she mocked herself for being so anal about stupid things, but she defended herself by believing this was going to be useful someday. Who knew that day would actually come? She took out the new toothbrush along with the toothpaste and stood up straight.

"_Fine?_" Spencer scoffed and sat up. "No, Aria. The _weather_ is fine." She paused to take a long observing look at her best friend. "He was that bad, huh?"

"No!" She quickly said and felt a little flustered. "Can we talk about this later? I have 50-page article to go over—"

"Are you planning on seeing him again?" Spencer continued to pry as she got up from her seat. "You know, so you can have another_ fine, exquisite_ sex." She mimicked as she raised her pinky pretending to drink a cup of tea.

Aria gave another sigh. "No, I will not be seeing him again."


	2. Chapter 2

_Because someone said update and they said please so why not hahaha. _

* * *

"I can't believe you!" Aria shouted from across the room, seeing Hanna and Spencer's eyes on her. Aria stomped her way through her friend's desk.

"Uh-oh, somebody's in trouble." Hanna said under her breath and shot Spencer a funny glance. "I'm gonna need those back tomorrow, okay?" She said gesturing at the folders she brought in for her. She turned around and faced Aria. "Hi." She quickly said.

"Hi." Aria flashed her a smile, switching off her anger for a split-second to greet her friend.

"Bye." Hanna replied as she left the room.

"Bye." She replied and turned her anger back on again as her eyes landed on Spencer.

Spencer stayed still, her eyes focused on the papers on her desk. "I did you a favor, okay?" She started as she continued to fill out the forms.

Aria hovered over her. "Then you and I must have very different definitions of what a favor really is." Aria snapped. "Stop writing!" She slammed her palm on the paper finally making Spencer look at her in the eyes.

"You're wrinkling it." Spencer pointed out, slapping her hand away. "Look at you." She leaned back, swiveling in her big chair. "You're shut in so tightly, it'll take a crowbar to pry you apart." She said as she clicked off the pen. "If anything, this is what you need the most." She leaned in, placing the pen on her desk.

"I don't need you tell me what my needs are, let alone sending one to my office."

Spencer chuckled at her words as she picked up her pen again. "You might want to rephrase that." She said, clicking the pen once last time.

"Spencer Hastings. I am not joking around." Aria retorted with her face leaning across the desk. "This is absolutely none of your business so don't ever do it again."

They held each other's eyes for a moment, sizing each other up. Spencer knew very well that every time a fight led to full names being thrown, things were actually serious.

"Okay." Spencer said, surrendering.

"You know, sometimes I blame you for my headaches." Aria shook her head at her. "Now lend me your damn phone." She said reaching over her desk to grab the phone and as soon as she took a hold of it, she quickly pressed some buttons.

_"You've gotta be kidding me." Spencer grumbled as she bent down, glaring at the spilled coffee near her feet. Coffee was the only drink that helped her get through the day and now it was all over the ground. Looking back at the coffee stand just a few feet away, she saw about ten people in line, waiting for their own order._

_She didn't bother checking her watch because she knew her routine very well. The office was just a block away and it would take her at least two minutes to get there. At the moment, she had only about five minutes before she was officially late for work. Doing the math in her head, she knew she wasn't able to get herself a new cup if she wanted to arrive for work on time._

_"Here, take mine." A man said just above her._

_Straightening herself out, Spencer smiled and turned her head to look at him. "That's really not necessary…" She said to him._

_Ezra arched his eyebrows and did a double take. "Hey, it's you! Wow." He grinned. "I'm really glad I bumped into you—"_

_A bit apprehensive, Spencer smiled awkwardly. "Sorry?" She really wished she could remember who he was._

_"Uh, right, right." He gestured with his hand. "Uh. You're the tiny one's friend. Tiny girl, big eyes, sort of snobby…about this yay high?" He gestured with his hand, estimating Aria's height just a little above his chest. "Back at the bar? About three weeks ago. I didn't get your name or hers for that matter." He said mentally cursing himself for what a mess he was that night._

_Finally realizing his identity, Spencer widened her eyes. "Yes, I do. Of course, I remember now." She smiled at him. "Well…it was really nice seeing you." She smacked her lips together as the clock at the back of her head ticked out loud. "I'm really late for work. I—" She pointed her thumb over her shoulder. "I should get going…"_

_"Oh okay." He said and handed her the cup. "Here, take it. It looks like you need it more than I do."_

_She looked at him and the cup. "Oh, that's nice of you." She smiled warmly and accepted the gift. "Thank you. You're a real lifesaver." She said before turning around._

_Ezra watched and thought to himself for a second. "Wait!" He said after her as he walked hurriedly in her direction, making her turn around._

_Spencer waited impatiently as he got closer. "Yeah?"_

_"Where is she by the way? Your friend?" He asked. "If you can tell me, we'll be even." He pointed at the coffee._

_"She didn't leave you her number?"_

_"We didn't really get a chance to—" He pressed his lips together. "Uh, well, perhaps you can help me out?"_

_Spencer stifled her smile. "I can't give you her number. She'd kill me." She told him._

_"Right, right." He nodded and forced a smile, hiding his desperation._

_"But I can give you this." She reached for her wallet. "Hold this for a sec?" She handed the cup to him before taking out a card. She traded the card for the cup and gave him another smile._

_"What's this?" He asked as he read the business card. The New York Times. Ezra stared in awe. "The Times?" He breathed out and glanced at Spencer._

_"Her office. She should be in today. Aria Montgomery by the way, you might wanna call her by that name." She informed him. "Now, we're even. See you around." She grinned and walked away._

_"See ya." He said, reading the card again. "Her own office?" He said to himself, a bit intimidated yet again._

_Looking over at the information board, Ezra skimmed for her name. The board with clear glass protecting it contained a list of names in white letterings and their floor numbers along with their titles. The office he wanted was located on the 14th floor._

_Aria saw the red blinking light on the desk phone. She pressed it, putting it on automatic speakerphone. "Yes?"_

_"There's a visitor here to see you." The receptionist said. "He's insisting he has an appointment, but there's nothing here that—"_

_"It's fine. Send him up. Thank you." She said and hung up the call._

_Ezra took a moment to read her office door. Aria Montgomery. And under her name, it said 'assistant editorial page editor' all in capital letters. Seeing it in person, written out right before his eyes was the deal-breaker. That was enough intimidation for the day. This girl was clearly far more successful than he could ever be. He told himself he still had time to back out, it had been weeks and she never bothered getting in touch with him so if he were to leave now, she wouldn't notice a thing. He shamefully shook his head at himself and his cowardly thinking and exhaled sharply. He knocked on the door and right away, he was being told to come in and so he did, very slowly like an animal expecting a trap lying around somewhere._

_Aria put the magazine down and looked up. "Wha—" She got up and went around her desk. "What are you doing here?" She asked, walking to him._

_"I have some information you might find useful, for your next piece, whatever department you write for. This is coming from a very reliable source." Ezra said with a straight face._

_"Is that right?" She crossed her arms above her chest, putting on her usual professional facade. "And what might that be and what source?"_

_"You." He said with a smile and saw her rolling her eyes in return. "You bailed out on me."_

_"Ezra, I really don't have time for this…"_

_He smiled at the fact that she remembered his name. "Is that how you welcome your sources?" He remarked. "Not gonna get a lot of them if that's how you do it. Just a friendly tip."_

_Aria tilted her head to one side and glared at him. "Okay." She said, deciding to play along. "Why are you really here and how can I help?"_

_He scratched the back of his head. "Well, it starts out with this guy, he had a really interesting time with a small girl, really small, you know, about your height actually - several nights ago." He told her as she listened attentively with a stoic expression on her face. "But then he woke up without any sign of her ever being there, not even a full name or anything. Must have dreamt it or something."_

_"I was in a rush." She excused. "Work." She gestured at her office._

_"Then good thing I bumped into your friend earlier." He revealed. "The tall one? Skinny, pretty girl. Loves coffee. I don't know. I wouldn't know." He was talking a bit faster than usual and his descriptions today were rather comical and hastily thought of._

_"Spencer. Right." She said and planned on murdering her best friend after this conversation._

_"Right." He rubbed his chin. "I thought maybe whenever you're free, we could grab a bite to eat. Have dinner? Maybe?" He pressed his lips together anxiously._

_"You're really asking me out on a date?"_

_"A proper one. Yes."_

_"Well, that's shocking."_

_"Why?"_

_Aria walked back to her desk. "Just had a gut feeling that you hated me."_

_"Still kinda do." He jested and followed her._

_"Oh, I see." She sat on her chair and looked at him. "So this is just you trying to butter me up and hopefully sleep with me later on because you didn't get to the first time?" She remarked. "Afraid I'd be breaking your streak?"_

_Then came a pause. Ezra scowled at her. "You should really give some people more credit."_

_"Don't worry." She began to organize some papers on her desk. "I do and I don't."_

_"I'm guessing I belong in the latter part?" He pursed his lips to the side as she remained quiet and avoided his eyes. Raising his eyebrows, Ezra shook his head. "Great. Thanks for your time." He said. "I'll show myself out." He added before exiting._

_Aria clenched her jaw and slowly looked up just when the door was about to close. Now was not the time to start feeling guilty or remorse or compassion or anything that didn't concern her job. All she wanted was to finish her work and go home and relax. She hated feeling responsible for someone else's unhappiness and she hated having to care about it. After sitting there, asking herself if it was worth the regret, she suddenly got up from her chair._

_Without knocking, Aria stormed in. "I can't believe you!" Aria shouted from across the room, seeing Hanna and Spencer's eyes on her._

_"Uh-oh, somebody's in trouble." Hanna said under her breath and shot Spencer a funny glance._

"Excuse me, sir?" The receptionist called after Ezra who sped his way through the lobby. "Ms. Montgomery would like to speak to you." She stretched the phone cord as Ezra furrowed his brow, stopping to see the receptionist.

"No, that's alright." Ezra said, raising his hand at her. "Tell her I'm all set." He started walking again.

"She said it's urgent." She called out again. "A matter of life and death, verbatim."

If he wasn't supposed to be so angry with her, he would have laughed at that. Ezra breathed deeply and turned to go back to the reception desk. Then he forced a tight smile and took the phone then he cleared his throat at it, implying that he was listening in now.

"I'm not always this awful." She started with a soft voice and then silence for a moment. "You'll just have to give me another chance to prove it. If you're still willing." She added. Another moment of silence. Aria could hear him breathing steadily as he thought long and hard for an answer.

"Cafe Noir at 7."

"Okay." Aria quickly said and smiled to herself, feeling a little redemption.

"Okay." He said back and glanced at the phone for a second.

He checked his phone for the time. Ezra predicted she was going to pull the fashionably late card, but he was wrong. She entered the restaurant at exactly seven o'clock wearing a nice tan trench coat and under it, a black polka dot dress partnered with black tights and heels.

"Wow, I thought you'd be one of those girls who are at least half an hour late for their dates." Ezra commented as she joined him at their table.

"Why would you think that?"

"Well, you know, to make it seem like they're not overly excited about it." He answered.

"I don't see the point in waiting." She casually said as she took off her coat.

Ezra smiled then ran his eyes over her, seeing a couple of birthmarks near her chest and collarbone. He looked up at her and saw her looking back with a growing glare. He cleared his throat. "Nice birthmarks."

"Yeah? Nice cover." She spat back and shook her head.

"Okay—" He smacked his lips together, exaggerating the awkwardness in the air. "Before this turns into something ugly…" He turned around and gestured at the waiter. "What are we in the mood for?" He asked as the waiter approached them with the menu folders.

"I'll have the molten cake with a glass of mango shake." Aria said to the waiter without bothering to take a menu folder.

Cocking his eyebrow, Ezra took it she had been here many times before. He read some of the food then closed the folder. "Yeah, I'll just have what sh—"

"Don't…do that." She cut off and gave him a scolding look.

"Okay…" He gave her a wary glance. "I'll take a Pinot Noir, Burgundy and a…molten cake." He smiled at the waiter and handed back the menu.

Shaking her head at him, Aria smiled anyway. "That was a 2.5." She said. "2.0 for delivery." She joked. "0.5 for originality."

"Cute." He responded. "I guess we're having desserts first, huh?"

"You didn't have to."

"But you?…" He squinted.

"I have a bit of a sweet tooth." She admitted.

He nodded along. "Then I should probably make you more of those strawberry vodkas." He smoothly said to her, throwing out the subtle invitation back to his place.

"Ha." She said and reached for her glass of water. "Maybe." She added before taking a sip.

She noticed that an hour had gone by and they were still talking. She wasn't sure how she managed it, but he was actually fun when he was sober. And one of the things that was really catching her eye was the small tufts of dark chest hair hiding behind his dress shirt. He had left three buttons strategically open from the chest up; something she found very sexy yet brutish about that. Hopefully he didn't notice her glancing at it from time to time. All this wine had made her think of things she shouldn't be thinking.

"I've never been to the Statue of Liberty." She revealed. Somehow, they ended up playing a game of "What makes a New Yorker a terrible New Yorker." a game they invented just a few moments ago.

"Never been to the Empire State. Never been to the Rockefeller rink." He admitted, receiving a gasp from her, "Did I win?"

"Nooo. I have many more up my sleeves." She thought for a moment and ultimately smiled from ear-to-ear.

"Am I sensing a little pride?"

"I just like winning." She jested, sort of.

"This isn't exactly the kind of game you'd want to win."

"Okay, I just thought of another." She smiled widely. "I definitely have this in the bag."

"I'll be the judge of that."

"I've never been to a Broadway show."

Ezra stared at her, letting a few beats go by. "You're lying." He finally said but immediately saw her shaking her head vigorously. "You can't be serious."

"I haven't!" Aria said throwing her hands. "I've never had the time or anybody that showed enough interest in it that they'd actually go with me to see one."

"Wow, you really _are _a terrible New Yorker." He said. "You should just move out and go back to where you came from." He added and she sneered at him. "You're missing out."

She pouted. "I know." Aria watched the waiter approaching them with their cheque.

"Ready to go?" He asked as they finished their last glass of wine. The waiter placed the little note on their table and Ezra quickly took it. He quietly hoped that he could hail a cab without having to wait for half an hour so that she wouldn't grow bored of him.

"Where to?"

"Finish the night off with strawberry vodka?" He suggested with a hopeful glint in his eyes. Aria squinted at him, but gave a small nod.

"Yeah, I'll go for a nightcap." She said even though the wine she had tonight was already starting to make her sleepy and someone her size, more alcohol would knock her out for sure.

Without really knowing how it came about, Aria found herself clasping her hands around a half-empty cup of black coffee. This was way better than any vodka mixed with fruits. She wanted to be steady, to be able to think on her head rather than the booze doing all the talking especially when she was around him.

"You know, you're actually pretty tolerable when you're not buzzed off." She told him as she watched him eat a piece of leftover cake that he took out from the fridge.

"Can't say the same for you." He said receiving a glare from her and in return, he winked. "Try some." He said putting a plate of the same cake in front of her.

"Had a party, huh?"

"My brother tied the knot last week." He informed her and took a seat beside her. "Shotgun wedding." He added.

She gasped. "This is a wedding cake?"

"Yes, so eat some. For good luck." He added and looked at her with a smile.

"I've never heard that tradition." She said the fork in mid-air, inches away from her mouth.

"Didn't expect you to."

With a light scoff coming out of her mouth, she gave him a cold glare. "What is that supposed to mean?"

Ezra did a side glance before answering. "Because I made it up just now? I don't know maybe it _is_ a tradition. I'll look into it more later if you're so concerned by it." He grinned as she stuffed her mouth with vanilla and maybe a small hint of peach. As she continued to eat, Ezra moved a little closer, trying to steal a kiss, but she shook her head at him. "No?" He asked.

"No." She repeated with a stern expression and took a glance at him.

"_No_, no?"

"Can't you see me eating my cake?"

He forced a smile and reached into the cake with his index finger, picking off a small amount of frosting and swiftly wiping it on the tip of her nose. As she glared at him again, Ezra reached over and grabbed the back of her head, kissing the frosting off of the tip of her nose.

She shut her eyes, dropping the fork onto the plate and held his hands for a second. "No kissing on the mouth." She said before allowing him to continue.

With furrowed brow, Ezra nodded. "Oddball." He commented as his lips traveled down her cheek and her soft jaw, obediently avoiding her lips.

He knelt in front of her as her head relaxed itself against the pillows near the headboard. She swallowed hard and watched him take off his own shirt. Then it was her turn to get undress. Ezra gingerly lifted her dress and pulled on her tights but for some reason, they refused to come off.

He paused for a second and glanced down. "Garters?" He exhaled out and admired the new sight for a moment. "I've never seen a woman wear actual garters." He uttered. He shook his head at her with a crooked smile on his foolish face. "You're full of surprises."

"Yes, I am and don't you forget it." She breathed out and lifted her hips so she could take them off herself, but his hands stopped her before she could even reach her thighs.

Leaning forward, Ezra planted a few kisses on her cheek and down to her chin as he worked on her garters, ultimately pulling them down and throwing them behind him.

With a trembling sigh, Aria tipped back her head and shut her eyes, letting him settle himself between her legs.

Ezra lifted his head and glanced up at her. "You alright?" He asked and propping himself up with his arms astride her head.

"Mhm-mhm." She answered although it was clear from the sound of her voice that she was nervous.

"You don't look alright." He said wanting to be sure before continuing anything else.

"Thanks. Women _love_ hearing that." Aria muttered self-consciously.

He tilted his head. "You know what I meant."

"I know. It's just that I haven't done this in a while and—" She swallowed hard again and reached for his face, her hands grabbing the sides of his face as if she was asking for help.

Laughing softly, he lunged for another kiss on the cheek. "It's like riding a bike. You can't forget—" He was interrupted by a chain of no's from her.

"No. No. Don't say that. Bad, bad, terrible analogy." She said shutting her eyes again, putting her fingertips on her forehead.

"No, it's not." He retorted and leaned closer to her, kissing her neck now.

"It is for someone who can't ride a bike." She confessed with a shy tight smile growing upon her face.

He pulled back. "You don't know how to ride a bike?" He whispered out loud and they laughed for a second.

Groaning, Aria looked at him. "Are we gonna do this or are you just going to make fun of me throughout the night?"

"Then stop dropping bombshells on me." He bantered and smiled widely. He stared down at her lips for quite a moment, wondering how they would feel against his. There was something awfully fun about being held back as if he had to earn his way just for a kiss on the lips. But it was also torture since he was not used to being with women and not having to taste their mouth before sleeping together. And curiosity was killing him.

Beckoning for him, Aria wrapped her legs tighter around his own as he moved a little bit closer, his arms now trapping the either side of her head. Ezra watched her chest heaving up and down then his eyes slowly traveled up to watch her face as he gave the first thrust. Her mouth parted open, letting a soft gasp come out and her hands went up to his waist, grabbing at his sides as he continued on.

As they alternatively kissed each other's neck and jaw, Aria pushed herself up - forcing them both to roll over and with her taking control as he rested on his back. His hands gripped her hips and gleamed at her face with her eyes closed and her hands pushing down on his chest. Ezra slipped his hand behind her neck and pulled her in so he could kiss her neck once more, somehow he was able to avoid her lips even if it took all of his strength to do so.

After a while, they rolled over back to their original position. Ezra shut his eyes tight and bit down on his lips hard as he gave one final thrust. His eyes fluttered open and landed on her face as she cried out with her head tipping back, her arms clutching around his strong back. Ezra moved forward, giving her chin a soft playful bite.

Climbing down from their high, they shared a smile and very quickly, Ezra rolled off of her and lay on the other side of the bed, attempting to catch his breath. She let out a sigh of relief and turned her head to the side, looking at him. Feeling her eyes on him, Ezra returned the favor and looked back at her. He flashed a soft smile as he reached for her face and finally deciding to do what he had been desiring to do without a care in the world as to how she would react.

Ezra pulled her in and pressed his lips against hers as they both arched their eyebrows at the sensation taking place. Without any sign of protest, Aria brought her hand around the back of his head, fisting his hair as she slowly moved her lips against his. Their eyes slightly closed, hand cupping the back of each other's head, they savored the kiss each living second as soft mouths remained together, perfectly aligned, and sharing its own warmth and pleasure from both receiving and giving ends.

Unwillingly pulling back, but needing to breathe, Ezra's mouth stayed agape as Aria furrowed her eyebrows for a quick second, wondering so many things.

"I can't believe you don't know how to ride a bike." Ezra finally joked, breaking their silence. Aria glared and gave his cheek a quick, stinging slap as he grimaced but very quickly followed it with a hearty laugh. Ezra touched her waist, letting his hand rest on the swooping curve of her waist, he smiled. "We've got long ways to go." He said as she gazed at him for a moment then ultimately giving a quiet nod, accepting their little unspoken vow.


	3. Chapter 3

It was their little time together. After work, Spencer and Aria would go out to eat at an old diner just a block away from their building. This became their spot ever since they first started working for the Times and they used it for catching up since their job kept them apart most of the time.

Aria shrugged and stirred her coffee with a spaced-out look in her eyes. Once again, her best friend began analyzing her relationship with Ezra. She secretly hated it sometimes.

"Aria, you've been together for six months." Spencer said matter-of-factly. "It's about time you invite him over to your place."

"He seems fine with it." Aria argued. "It's not like he's begging me to give him a tour of the place. He's never even mentioned it." She added as she continued stirring, wondering why she was lying to herself.

"The more reason why you should bring him over." Spencer looked down at her hand and reached over, stopping the stirring. "Does he even know where you live?"

With a faint scowl, she shook her head. "He doesn't mind." She said shrugging the subject off once more. "I haven't slept at my own place for ages anyway."

"To you, maybe. For him, it does." Spencer replied. "Maybe not now, but it will. You just don't want to think about it." She gave her friend a closed mouthed smile. She wanted to add another word, but she didn't want to ruin their lunch. Selfish. Her friend was being selfish, but then again it was her friend's relationship and not hers. Spencer mentally groaned at that previous excuse because now she made herself sound selfish.

_They hastily made their way to his bed with their hands seemingly incapable of letting go of each other. Ezra let out a smile as they finally fell into the soft mattress, kissing and blindly grabbing whatever they could._

_Aria pulled him closer and he could tell that she was growing impatient by the way her kisses felt a little more aggressive against his lips._

_As he began to pull back for a moment, Ezra attempted to reach the nightstand drawer. "I just gotta get—" He started to say, but she immediately shook her head at him and pulled him back down._

_"No, c'mon." She breathed out and feverishly kissed him again._

_Ezra thought for a second as to what she was saying then he furrowed his brow. "You sure?" He whispered while pulling his head back a few inches away from hers._

_Grabbing his face, she kept her eyes closed and her lips parted and searching for him. After a few stolen kisses, she nodded. "Mhm-mhm." She simply said while her fingers traveled the back of his head, playing with his hair._

_Ezra smiled and started to undo the buttons of her shirt. This was new for him - having no barriers between them and not having a care in the world for the consequences either. He would assume she would be on the pills._

_But in the corner of his mind - if whatever they were about to do in a few seconds resulted in an accident, a beautiful, crying, crawling, a life changing accident, Ezra was convinced that he wouldn't mind at all. It wasn't apathy or immaturity, Ezra knew he wanted to be with her and if the 'accident' did end up coming true, he would be happy for the mere fact that he had it with her._

_Mornings tended to be very short. He would wake up to the sound of Aria showering just a room away. She always woke up first, always had the first shower, always the first to get dressed up, and always the first to leave._

_Weekdays usually did not include breakfasts. Aria had to be by the office at seven o'clock in the morning and Ezra at nine, leaving them a small amount of time together. And sometimes, he would wake up early - even though he had a little more than an hour to spare - just to have a small interaction with her before she went to work._

_"I like this one." Aria brought up the light blue neck tie and put it against his chest, double checking the contrast with his dress shirt._

_"Alright." Ezra said tipping his chin up so she could tie it up for him. This was too mediocre, no, actually this was the opposite, it was nothing he imagined at all. He felt like a middle-aged husband, living his life comfortably in the suburbs except they lived in the city and they were not married at all nor was he a middle-aged man although he was getting there. The only thing he was missing was a midlife crisis. How could he feel so married to someone he had only met six months ago?_

_Aria smoothed out his tie, giving it a finishing touch and paused to look at him. Ezra looked back and studied her face for a moment._

_"Penny for your thoughts?" He asked still keeping his eyes on her and for a second, he felt as though she was thinking the same thing. An imitated married life._

_"You look good, that's all." She said and gave him a parting kiss. "I'll be back around 8." She added before trailing off._

_They walked along the crowded streets and reached the end of the block where they waited for the pedestrian sign to change._

_Hardy wolfed down a bagel with egg muffin and listened on and on, letting his friend do all the talking. He gave the occasional head nods and "mhm-mhm"'s every once in a while to show he was still listening._

_Intently watching the traffic sign, Ezra glanced at Hardy. "Hell, I don't mind. Why should I? How often do you get a beautiful woman in your apartment, let alone for days and weeks and months, right?" He stated, but something seemed to bother him._

_"Great, she's moved in with you." He pointed out. "So, what the hell are you pissin' on about?" Hardy crinkled the the foil wrap in his hands._

_"I swear, the woman lives in her office." He said and shook his head. "I'm starting to sound like one, aren't I? " He groaned at himself whining about a what seemed to be a perfectly healthy relationship and here he was complaining how she had not invited him over to her apartment._

_Crossing the pedestrian section now, Hardy shrugged. "How are you even sure she has her own place?"_

_Ezra threw him a condescending look. "She's a 27 year-old editor for the Times. I'd be surprised if she only had one apartment in the whole city."_

_"Nah, not always. You know those rich kids, always keeping to themselves. She could be living with her parents for all you know." He nudged Ezra's arm. "See, look at that guy…" Hardy said in a low volume as he gestured at an elderly man, white hair, simple polo shirt and khaki pants with brown sandals walking in their direction. "That's a rich man in disguise if I ever saw one. Their trick is they don't like spending a dime on anything, not even decent clothes. Look at Steve Jobs. How do you think they stay so rich?" Hardy went on as if he was unraveling a huge conspiracy._

_Ezra's eyebrows rose in disdain and did not say anymore. They were getting off topic anyway. And like a savior, Ezra's phone began to ring. He reached deep into his pocket and pulled the phone out, answering it._

_"Hello, yes?" He said and heard his brother's laid-back voice through the tiny speaker. "Yeah, man, what's up?" He listened attentively. "Tomorrow night? Yeah, no, of course. I'll talk to her. Probably. It's fine. I'll give you a call as soon as possible. Okay, talk to you later."_

_His footsteps caught her attention so she looked up and smiled at him. Putting down her pen, Aria got up and walked to him._

_"Busy?" Ezra said as he closed the door behind him. It was three o'clock and he just left the school and headed over to her office hoping to spend a little time._

_"I think I could spare you a minute or two." She joked as they came together for a small kiss. She looked down at his hands and saw a little white bag. "What's this?"_

_Ezra handed it to her. "Sweets…for my sweet." He grinned foolishly as she rolled her eyes at him, but she tiptoed, thanking him with another kiss._

_Ezra soon enough learned to adjust to her reserved personality. She wasn't the kind of woman who would coo or gush over things. This didn't mean she was hard to please. He could tell when she was happy and that was usually most of the time she was with him and vice versa, but it would take him a while to figure this out since she kept a lid on most of her emotions as if she held a secret._

_They walked back to her desk and she took a seat while he roamed about, looking out the window and admiring the view for the umpteenth time. Sometimes, jealousy set in but he couldn't help feeling proud to be with someone like her and pride always made the jealousy go away._

_Eating one of the truffles from the bag, Aria watched him. "How was your day?" She asked hoping to strike a casual conversation._

_"Ah you know, dealing with a bunch of fourth graders is always a joy." He said half sarcastically. "Oh, actually, we're doing a little play."_

_With a tight smile, Aria raised her eyebrows to express her excitement. "What kind of play?"_

_"Just a school play." He said not wanting to appear too excited over something so little. With her success, impressing her suddenly became harder to achieve. "Sweeney Todd."_

_Aria widened her eyes. "Isn't that a bit graphic?"_

_"Yes and I was kidding." He grinned at her. "We're doing Swan Princess. The majority voted for it." He chuckled._

_"And you're directing? Leading this whole thing, aren't you?"_

_He liked the sound of that. "I seem to be the only one willing." He humbly said. "Rehearsing's been good though. I think they should be ready soon. Great kids, those bunch."_

_"That sounds wonderful." Aria remarked and offered a warm smile._

_"You will come and see it, right?"_

_"Uhh…" She made a reluctant face and Ezra tilted his head at her, ready to fight her for it._

_"Aria…"_

_Then her mouth broke out into a wide toothy grin. "Of course I will! What kind of question is that?" She chuckled and got up to go to him. "Your big debut. I wouldn't miss it for the world."_

_Ezra wrapped his arm around her waist and dipped in for a kiss. "Good. Here I was thinking you'd have something better to do like write for the New York Times." He scoffed jokingly as they embraced each other, kissing much longer. He swiftly pulled back. "Also, I have something else to tell you." He said and waited for her to nod._

_"Yeah?"_

_"My brother called earlier and invited us to dinner. Tomorrow."_

_Aria took a moment, thinking it over. "Oh, really?" She said nervously. Meeting the brother then before she knew it, she would be meeting the parents._

_"He doesn't believe I'm going out with someone from the Times so I thought I'd prove him wrong." He joked in order to comfort her a bit. Ezra heard her let out a soft groan. "What? You're not up for it?"_

_"No, I just wish people would stop treating me like a damn trophy wife just because I work for this place." She said a bit irritated. "It's just a job."_

_"Is that what you thought when you got it?" He reminded her. "And I was just joking, Aria."_

_"Fine, joke all you want, but you don't have to bring it up every time we have a conversation."_

_"This is coming from the same woman who threw the word promotion the very first time we met?"_

_"That was different." Aria retorted._

_"How?"_

_"I only said it to make you go away."_

_"Well, joke's on you. It didn't work." Ezra said as Aria gave him a look. He furrowed his brow. "I'm just proud of you. Is it so bad to have someone be proud of you?" He defended and frankly, he was a little bit puzzled by her sudden anger. He would think people would enjoy this attention. She was so hard to discern sometimes._

_Exhaling sharply, Aria looked at him hard. She thought about how there were many others that deserved to be praised or recognized. Doctors, soldiers, and teachers like him._

_"I'm not the one teaching kids how to read or memorize and act out a whole play." She said softly. "I'm doing this for me. For myself. That's it. I spend most of my days here in this office, sitting comfortably behind a desk, having the time of my life. To have someone be proud of me is the last thing I deserve."_

_Ezra stared at her then stepped closer. "Oddball." He said and pulled her in, giving her forehead a kiss and he could feel her warm breath against his skin. "You haven't answered my invitation though."_

_Looking at him, Aria licked her lips. "I'd love to meet your brother." She said nodding continuously in order to convince him._

_"And his wife and their baby. They all live together, remember?" He pressed his lips. "They keep complaining about how the baby mooches off of them too much, you know, not contributing to pay the mortgage and pooing everywhere. But that's what you get for moving in together." He said joking again._

_Aria let out a reluctant chuckle. "I would assume a husband and a wife would want to move in together sometime in the future."_

_Ezra looked at her square in the eyes. "Hmm, couples usually do that." He said although failing at his subtlety. They gazed at each other for a quick moment before being interrupted by the knocking._

_"Aria—" Spencer began to say, barging in and stopping in her tracks upon seeing Ezra in front of her. "Hey there." Then paused for a second. "Sorry, am I interrupting something?"_

_"No, no." Ezra answered quickly and turned to Aria. "I'll see you tonight." He said and kissed her goodbye._

_Spencer held the door open for him. "Bye." Spencer said as he walked out then she turned to Aria. "Ready to go? I'm starving."_

_As soon as the waitress walked away with their orders, Spencer linked her hands in front of her and looked at Aria. "That is an implication." She said after hearing Aria's explanation for Ezra's visit._

_"No, it's not. I don't think he meant anything by it." Aria pressed on. "I'm just over analyzing everything." She said quickly._

_"Aria, you've been together for six months." Spencer said matter-of-factly. "It's about time you invite him over to your place."_

_"He seems fine with it." Aria argued. "It's not like he's begging me to give him a tour of the place. He's never even mentioned it." She added as she continued stirring, wondering why she was lying to herself._

They walked back, entering the building and headed for the elevator.

"So tomorrow, huh?" Spencer brought up again. "That should be fun. Just stuff your face with food so you wouldn't have to talk." She said her voice covered in sarcasm.

Aria sighed. "Thanks." She said in a monotonous tone.

Purposely bumping her shoulder into hers, Spencer tilted her head. "Kidding. Just be yourself." She added. "It'll be fine."

"I wasn't asking for advice, Spence."

"I'm just trying to help."

"I wasn't asking for help either." Aria looked up at the elevator light, the little arrow finally reaching the "L" for lobby.

They parked their car in front of the house and saw the lights automatically flickering on as soon as they stepped out of the vehicle.

Aria observed the neighborhood. Hauntingly quiet, huge trees everywhere, and wide sidewalks. This didn't feel like New York at all. She wasn't even aware places like this was real. She had always been accustomed to the city life and this, this was a family neighborhood where dream houses were found and lived in, and children raised together by a typical stay at home mothers and hard working faithful husbands. She liked the idea and hated it all the same.

"Shall we?" Ezra asked, placing his hand on her back as they walked toward the two-story house.

After finally getting the hang of everything, Aria could actually feel her shoulders loosening up. The married couple who looked about in their mid-thirties were hospitable and still had that honeymoon phase kind of happiness, the perfectly normal newlyweds.

Aria watched Ezra and his older brother talking in the corridor while she waited for the sister-in-law who was now climbing down the stairs with their new baby boy.

The sister-in-law was making her way in the living room, heading straight for Aria. She had a hippie quality to her. Long blonde hair, tan skin, loose colorful clothes, and she always seemed to be smiling or laughing at something even if nothing was happening at all. If she and Aria were placed in the same room together, it would be a complete example of what a contrast really is. Day and night, black and white, Aria and the sister-in-law.

"Here's our little Tommy." She gushed and sat next to Aria who scooted over and smiled nervously.

Ezra grinned at his older brother. "I didn't even recognize you when I came in. I thought maybe I walked into the wrong house." He joked. "You just—" He gestured with his hands. "You blew up. Huge, man. What has she been feeding you?"

"Oh, you laugh now but wait until you get your own." He watched the women from across the room. "New York Times, huh? A career woman. Mom and Pop would be proud. Especially Pop. Have you told them?" He replied and pointed his chin toward the women. Ezra turned around and saw his sister-in-law getting up from her seat and attempting to the hand baby Tommy to Aria.

"Not yet." Ezra said quietly as they continued to watch the ladies then he turned to him again. "And don't mention her job. She hates the subject."

"Uhh, I really—" Aria swallowed hard, her hands in front of her reluctantly moving on about.

"Don't worry. Tommy plays well with others. We raise him in a very friendly environment and—"

"Oh, no, no, it's not that. I'm sure he's lovely. It's just…I'm a klutz. Really, a huge klutz. Once you hand him over to me, he'll just slip out of—" Aria let out a shaky laugh and threw her hands in front of her.

"Nonsense!" She argued then pressed on. "We, ladies, are naturally made for this." She finally gave the baby to her. "Now, take him before my penne pasta burns down the house." She looked down at Tommy. "You entertain our guest and Mommy will be right back." She exclaimed and dashed off to the kitchen.

Without a choice, Aria widened her eyes and turned her attention to Tommy. She pressed her lips together as the baby stared back and tried to familiarize himself with this stranger who was now holding him awkwardly. They stared at each other in silence.

"You're quite the chatterbox, aren't you?" She joked and feigned a smile. Tommy's eyes squinted and widened then squinted again as his mouth began to form into a small circle. To her surprise, Aria realized he was cooing and smiling a bit. Aria's lips curled into an uncontrollable smile, her eyebrows lowering and eyes gazing at the baby.

Ezra breathed out and stared on. He thought for a moment, thinking about how somebody should have been painting the two people right this moment. She was on the couch, sitting on the edge of it with the baby in her hands, cooing at her. He really wished he brought a camera, but for now, memory served him well and this became a snapshot in his head.

Holding him securely, Aria stared at Tommy for quite some time, her smile vanishing a while ago. Tommy's mouth straightened into a line and imitated Aria's face.

Biting her lower lip, Aria glanced up at the ceiling and tried her best to stop her eyes from welling with tears. Then all of a sudden, the house erupted with Tommy's shrill cry. Ezra watched on, furrowing his brow and a bit puzzled.

In a flash, the sister-in-law came storming into the living room. "What's happened?" She asked as Aria quickly stood up and handed Tommy over, her face flustered with embarrassment and guilt.

"I'm sorry, I don't know. I don't know what happened." She said and glanced at the men walking toward them now.

"Everything's fine, honey. No need to be alarmed." The brother turned to his wife. "Tommy here is just being fussy." The brother said, giving Aria a reassuring smile. Tommy gradually stopped his crying as the mother gently rocked him.

Ezra reached for her arm and brushed it. "Are you okay?"

"Mhm-mhm." Aria forced a smile, her cheeks hot and painfully flushed. "Where's the bathroom?"

"Uh, upstairs, first left." He said as Aria hurriedly left. Ezra and the couple exchanged glances.

"Is she alright? I didn't mean to scare her." The mother said apologetically. "Poor girl turned red as a tomato."

Ezra smiled. "She'll be fine. She's just a little overwhelmed about meeting you guys and pretty much this whole dinner." He declared.

No, that wasn't a good idea, Aria thought as she looked at herself in the mirror, contemplating washing her face with cold water, but realized her make-up would be ruined. She let out a few deep breaths, trying to compose herself. A moment later, she pulled out her phone from her pocket, deeply needing to call Spencer for help. Aria glanced back at the door and decided to put her phone back in her pocket. She had promised herself she wouldn't need anybody's help.

Laughter filled the house and once she reached the last step, she saw Ezra carrying Tommy lifting him above his head as if reenacting a scene from the Lion King and all the while the couple giggled nonstop.

"I am going to be the best uncle you will ever have." Ezra announced as he lowered Tommy now. Aria stayed at the bottom of the stairs, quietly watching him.

The brother stood up. "That's because you're the _only_ uncle he has." He pointed out and patted Ezra's shoulder.

Ezra chuckled and pressed his closed mouth against Tommy's cheek, slowly turning around and catching a glimpse of Aria near the stairs. Pulling back, Ezra smiled at her. "Hey, welcome back. Dinner's ready."

Her hand rubbed the back of her neck, stretching it out for a bit. She had survived the past three hours. What a baby, she thought, mocking herself. Any girl would have been grateful for an opportunity to be accepted by a close family, but all she could think about was making a fool out of herself and how she badly wanted to go somewhere else. Her lack of confidence staggered her. This rarely occurred yet when she was around Ezra, somehow, any sign of confidence seemed to disappear.

"That went all right, didn't it?" Ezra stated as they entered his apartment. 10 o'clock wasn't too late. Often they would have some sort of quick snack and tell each other how the day went, but this night had drained all of their energy.

She tilted her head to the side, trying to get a feel of her stiff neck. "Did it?" She muttered to herself.

Lowering his eyebrows, he looked at her and her hand rubbing her neck hard. "You okay?"

"I'm fine." She turned to him for a second and gave a smile.

Sighing, Ezra rolled his head knowing that smile which really wasn't a smile; it was merely a disguise. He had learned to trust her eyes more than her smile. He huffed to himself and watched her. "What's going on?" Ezra asked, trying to catch up to her and she kept walking to their bedroom.

Aria sat on the edge of the bed, taking off her stockings. By the door jamb, she could feel him standing over there, his eyes on her, just quietly burning right through her and this stare would go for as long as he could until she finally looked at him. Looking at the floor, Aria brought her hands to her face.

Stunned, Ezra could her weep through her tiny hands so he walked over as quickly as possible. "Hey…" He started, his hands felt a little lost for a moment and he didn't know where to touch her.

"I'm sorry. I was a mess." She finally said and continued crying. "I screwed everything up."

"What?" His eyebrows rose in shock. "What the hell are you talking about, Aria?" He said and held her face this time. "They loved you. Are you kidding me? They really did. Tommy loved you." He burst into a smile. "Where is this all coming from?"

Looking up, Aria shook her head. "I'm sorry. I don't know what's gotten into me."

Ezra looked at her a moment, contemplating. "Aria, do you think…" He thought again for a second, "Do you think you might be—" He looked down at her stomach and she followed his eyes and looked down at it as well.

"No, no…" She furrowed her brow at him, "That's not possible." She said to him and moved away.

"How can you be so sure?" He pressed on and followed her with his eyes as she tried to find a comfortable spot on the bed, "I saw the way you looked at Tommy. You really—"

"Stop, Ezra." She replied abruptly. "Just drop it, will you?" She said and buried herself in blankets. "It's nothing." She added.

Ezra exhaled sharply and undressed himself before joining her side. Sometimes he wondered how it was possible for someone to turn off their feelings just like that. She was confusing even after months of trying to figure her out, Ezra still felt he was missing a huge chunk of what she truly was.

"Are you gonna talk to me or are you just going to keep shutting me out every time we have a discussion?" He questioned as he lay himself beside her, keeping his voice calm.

"Can't we discuss some other time? It's been a long day, that's all." Aria said keeping her face away from him.

"So, you can stay up for hours to finish your writing but you can't spare me ten minutes to talk about us?" He retorted getting a bit irritated with her now.

Aria shut her eyes for a moment and shifted her body, finally looking at him. "I promise you, I'll know when I'm pregnant. You'll be the first to hear. But trust me for now, I am not pregnant. I'm just exhausted." She touched the side of his face. "And I love you. Can't we just leave it as that?"

Pausing for a moment, he scanned her face. He wanted to assess if she meant her words, but hearing her tired voice, he nodded and didn't want her to continue on. "Yeah, we can. That's all I wanted to hear." He nodded at her and pulled her closer, kissing her softly.

"But?…" Aria spoke for him, knowing the face he was giving her right now.

"What happened back there?" He asked, picturing the little moment she had with Tommy once again.

She studied his face and knew right then what he was pointing at. "Nothing." She shrugged lightly. "I just get overwhelmed when I'm near them." She forced a smile. "That's all."

With faces only a few inches away, Ezra licked his lips. "Because you can't help imagining your own? A mini you." He grinned and turned to face the ceiling. "Big, beautiful doe eyes, huge brain." He said as his smile grew wider and wider. He couldn't believe what he was saying but the words seemed to just spill out and he had no control over it.

"Is that what you want?" Aria said, her voice sounding lighter and suddenly frail.

Ezra scooted closer to her. "If you're ready then so am I." He admitted and planted a kiss on her forehead. He was in his early 30s. He thought men his age should probably think about settling with someone, build something for their own, and be content with it.

There were no other excuses for him not to. Ever since meeting her, he had realized that he couldn't horse around with different girls, and act like a bachelor and screw things up anymore. Back then, it seemed fine; he could reason with himself, convince everyone else that he was just a 21 year-old frat boy trying to experience new things, but now, hearing about a 33 year-old partying and getting wasted sounded pathetic and sad.

With creased eyebrows, Aria swallowed hard and inched closer to his face, brushing the tip of her nose against his then she proceeded to press her cheeks against his face, still not saying a word. Ezra smiled and wondered why she was crying again, but this time, he knew the answer right away. It was the good kind of tears, the ones he didn't mind seeing rolling down her cheeks every and now then.


	4. Chapter 4

"Son of a—" He almost screamed but realized there were people around him; mostly children and their parents beside them. Some eyes stared at him while others just passed by nonchalantly. Ezra groaned, his butt stinging and his hands throbbing from the hard fall. He brought his right hand to his mouth, pressing it against it to lessen the sting.

Aria went to him, incapable of holding in her laughter. "Oh no…" She said, in mid-laugh and a comforting voice.

"I have never felt so effeminate in my entire life." He told her as he scooted over to the side, leaning against the white wall.

"It's okay. I still like you." Aria quipped and sat beside him. "My martyr." She grinned.

Ezra shook his head accusingly at her. "This was your plan all along, wasn't it? Embarrass me in front of all these people?"

"You got me." She replied and chuckled and he grabbed her face, kissing her hard on the mouth, their lips icy and dry from the harsh winter air.

_Winter had come just as it was expected by many weather forecast. It was mid November and New York streets were covered in heavy white snow, some stayed pure white while the rest became a disgusting collection of brown slush ice._

_"I can't today. I'm meeting up with him in a few hours." She informed Spencer as they walked beside each other, heading for their floor._

_"Taking a nooner?" Spencer looked surprised for a moment then her eyebrows rose flirtatiously. "Wow."_

_"A half day. Not a nooner." She corrected, jutting her head at her friend._

_"Like I haven't heard that one before." She pressed on. "Look at you, putting pleasure before work." She teased. "How's the apartment dilemma going?"_

_"Never brought it up ever again." Aria said. "It was nothing."_

_"Selfish, selfish little girl."_

_"Oh, be quiet." She retorted and finally reached her office._

_"Hey, you better have Thanksgiving open. Don't you dare—"_

_"Relax, Spence." Aria cut in. "He and I haven't made those plans yet. And do you think so weakly of me that I would break a tradition that I made myself?"_

_"Well, if you're gonna keep up this whole—" She gestured at her friend. "Falsified honeymoon phase then yes, right now, I think very very weakly of you. More than you can imagine and I'm just trying to get a head start so you don't forget that you have other friends to attend to." She reminded her. "Hello? Remember me?"_

_Aria sighed. "Any chance you can bring your jealousy and bitterness over there?" She pointed at Spencer's office._

_Rolling her eyes, Spencer turned to the other direction. "Enjoy your nooner." She trailed off._

_"It's not a nooner!" Aria called out after her._

_"What's not a nooner?" Hanna asked, walking beside her with her hands occupied with a tray of coffee and folders tucked to her side. And just behind her, Emily joined in._

_"What's a nooner?" Emily asked with a certain curiosity in her eyes. She smiled innocently and waited for the girls to explain, glancing back and forth. Hanna leaned into Emily's ear and began to whisper. "Oh." Emily let out and gave Aria a suspicious look. "You're taking a noon—"_

_Aria softly groaned. "I'm taking a half day. Not a nooner." She told them. "And nobody's allowed to say that word anymore around here!" She exclaimed and walked off to her office._

_She held his hand tightly as she pulled him along and he continued to spew out an endless amount of questions. Where were they going? What were they doing? Why were they outside when they could be cooping inside his apartment, having warmth and comfort together? He glanced around him and realized where they were._

_And turning around the corner, Aria turned to him and smiled. "Ta-dah." She said, hoping he would react nicely to her surprise._

_Cocking his head at her, Ezra observed the crowd and sighed. "It's freezing and I'm not doing this." He grumbled, but Aria was already tugging on his hand with great force and they continued to walk toward the ice rink._

_"You made me ride that bike. Now it's your turn."_

_"You barely touched the bike!"_

_After putting on their skates, Aria was the first to go into the rink, skating without a struggle. She glided, did one round around the rink and went back to Ezra who kept fixing his skates. Aria rolled her eyes and knew he was just stalling._

_"Come on!" Aria said to him, pausing her skating a bit to watch him. "Don't be such a child."_

_"No!" He shouted watching her walk across the other side. "Aria, I'm not doing this."_

_Aria glared at him and waited for him to follow her. "Yes. You. Are." She said. "Get your butt over here." She said and tried to maintain a straight face. She had this all planned out, bringing him out here, and improving their little game of being a good New Yorker. This was the first to be crossed off the list. The Rockefeller ice rink was filled with children and their parents gliding along and around the rink, holding their little children by the hand. She would prefer it to be a little less crowded, but it was early winter with heavy snow, this place was basically calling for people._

_Ezra stepped into the rink, grabbing onto the side. He had never ice skated in his life nor had he any interest in it even when he was just a little boy._

_"You're a terrible trainer if you're just going to stand there and watch me suffer." He said to her and Aria skated to him with ease, leaving a fair distance between them. "Get closer."_

_"No, you're gonna bring me down with you. I know it."_

_"I'm not. Will you just come here?" He begged and glanced around him, amazed by the little children who zoomed past by him as if skating on ice was in their second nature._

_It only took fifteen minutes, after several falls and staggers, Ezra got used to his balance and everything came together just how she said it would although he knew he would have severe bruises after this._

_Aria skated backwards and stayed in front of him while taking a few wary glances behind her to make sure she wasn't going to crash into someone._

_Smiling softly at her, Ezra noticed her breath tracing the air while she continued to glide along the bumpy ice. Her nose looking slightly red and her cheeks more rosy than usual. Another mental snapshot for him to keep._

_"Not so bad, is it?" Aria commented and sped up her pace, still skating in reverse._

_"Careful." He said to her and watched the people near her - the possible collateral damage. Out of the blue, a skater sped through her side, close enough to brush her shoulder and Aria lost her balance for a split-second. As a reflex, Ezra held out his hand for her and soon, he lost his own balance while Aria easily composed hers._

_His butt hit the hard ice ground and hands automatically opening flat out to support his upper body._

_"Son of a—" He almost screamed but realized there were people around him; mostly children and their parents beside them. Ezra groaned, his butt stinging and his hands throbbing from the hard fall. He brought his right hand to his mouth, pressing it against it to lessen the pain._

_Aria went to him, incapable of holding in her laughter. "Oh no…" She said, in mid-laugh and a comforting voice._

_"I have never felt so effeminate in my entire life." He told her as he scooted over to the side, leaning against the white wall._

Pulling back from their kiss, Ezra tilted his head and smiled then frowned as he remembered what they were doing before.

"I've had enough." Ezra said and tried to stand up while patting his thighs. "I think I deserve some sort of consolation here, for the effort, yeah? Can't we just take a nooner?" He suggested looking at her with puppy dog eyes.

"Oh, not you too." Aria said, leaving him confused.

His hand brushed her arm over and over again, warming her up. They stood in line, waiting for their order. It was a small little cafe usually best only for breakfast and small lunch. There were mostly young families and couples eating in after battling through the cold.

"I'm gonna go get us a table, okay?" Aria said as she pulled away from him. Ezra nodded while his eyes read over the menu overhead once again.

She glanced around the cafe and saw the little metal stand with the newspapers. Getting up from her seat, Aria began to walk toward it.

"Aria?" A man's voice called out after her. Aria turned around and widened her eyes at him and the little baby hanging in a front sling across his torso.

She smiled tightly. "Wow." She breathed out. "Toby—"

"Toby?" He grinned sweetly. "Since when did you start calling me by that name?" He said, slightly flirting.

"Cav." She corrected herself and remembered how he enjoyed her calling him by his last name. But Aria thought it to be intimate back when they were together and now, they had no reason for any sort of intimacy between them anymore. "What are you doing here?" Her smile gradually disappeared as she laid her eyes on the baby.

Toby examined her face and nodded slowly. "This is Benjamin. Benjamin say hi…" He joked as he reached for Benjamin's little hand and wiggled it at her.

Aria forced a chuckle and licked her lips. "How old is he?"

"Seven months."

"Wow." She let out again and finally looked at Toby in the eyes. "That's wonderful." She congratulated and Toby smiled at her although he could see the little sad gleam in her eyes. "I'm really happy for you."

"Aria—"

"No, no, no…" She cut in.

"No, let me, please. I haven't seen you in a while. I didn't think I'd actually see you again and I'm really glad for this." He started. "We didn't end things as well as we should have, did we? I just—" He exhaled sharply and rubbed his forehead. He let out a nervous little laugh. "I never apologized for what I did." He bent his knees a little to look at her. "I'm sorry." He tilted his head at her. "I was a jerk, wasn't I?"

Aria glanced back at Ezra who was now grabbing their order over the counter. Then she cleared her throat before looking back at him again. She gave him a side smile. "It's okay. There's nothing wrong with wanting things…"

"I could have been nicer. I could have been so much nicer." And from the sound of his voice, his words were as sincere as they could get.

She agreed in silence, not knowing if he read it in her face or not. "But hey! You're happy, aren't you?" She said, trying to change the subject by lightening up the tone of her voice. She gestured at baby Benjamin.

He nodded. "And you? You look well. What have you been up to?" He asked as Benjamin squirmed in his little sling.

"I have been well. Work, what else?" She shrugged nonchalantly.

"You've met someone? Someone a lot better than me I hope."

"Yeah, I have." She nodded eagerly. "He's right over there." She pointed with her thumb over her shoulder.

Toby glanced over and saw Ezra heading in their direction. "As I should have expected." He commented with a sweet smile and Benjamin began to cry, seemingly bored of the fixed position he was stuck in. "Sorry, he's getting a little hungry—"

"It's okay, go, go, go."

"It was really great seeing you, Aria."

"You too." She forced a smile and waved at Benjamin and Toby did it again, grabbing his child's hand and waving it back at Aria making her chuckle for a second.

Aria kept her eyes on them as they ambled toward the end of the shop where his young blonde wife waited. Biting her lips, Aria ran her hand through her hair and sat back down again, forgetting what she was planning to do before.

"Here we are." Ezra announced as he sat with her. "Who was that?" He asked casually as he prepared the food on the table.

"Just an old friend."

After a couple of beats, Ezra arched his eyebrows. "Didn't look like just an old friend."

She rolled her head and reached for the food. "What did he look like then?"

"Like an old ex-boyfriend." He fished and slowly looked up at her. She didn't look back instead she started eating her soup quietly. Ezra took her silence as an affirmation. He didn't care about her past, but it seemed as though she did. "Aria, I was kidding." He said softly and reached for her arm. "Hey, I'm sorry." He apologized once more - he felt as though he was always the one apologizing in their relationship. How she managed to do that, he could never figure out.

"Can we take this to go?" She said, putting the tiny spoon back on the table and began to put the food back in their little containers.

"Yeah." He obeyed and learned not to cross her anymore when it came to this kind of matter. Ezra leaned across the table and touched her chin. "I'm sorry, okay? I didn't mean it. I don't care what he is or was to you. I was just kidding." He said as Aria leaned in closer for a kiss, accepting his words.

Wiping the corner of her mouth with some napkin, Aria put the food aside and grabbed the bottle of beer, taking a swig. All the cold had gone with a little help from the alcohol.

Ezra leaned back against his chair, stretching for a bit and watched her. "They really let you out early?" He asked and leaned forward again. As soon as she put her bottle on the table, he reached for it and finished it off.

"Don't worry, I've been saving up my vacation days since I started working there."

He stood up and began to clean up the table. "So, I guess we're all set for next week." He proposed casually and placed the plates into the sink.

Aria furrowed her brow and parted her lips a bit, carefully figuring out what to say. Clearing her throat, she looked at him. "We have plans next week?" She inquired and kept her voice soft trying not too sound too surprise or else that would send a wrong, hurtful message.

Turning around, Ezra nodded a bit. "Thanksgiving?"

"Right." She quickly said. "Um, I kinda have this thing…" She said and glanced at the table while her hands fidgeted with the empty beer bottle in front of her.

"Are your parents coming over?" He asked, genuinely curious. There was something heavy between his chest, a strong desire. He wanted so badly to see her parents and perhaps seeing how they were like would give him some clues, a background information, or any explanation as to why she was so different from the other women he had been with from the past and finally figure out what she was hiding because he had a feeling she had secrets; who didn't?

Aria's eyes lowered even more. "No." She had never told him about her parents. This was probably the time. She inhaled deeply. "No. Spencer and I have this thing we do for Thanksgiving. Just the two of us."

"Oh?" He replied and kept his eyes on her, waiting for more details.

"Just a little tradition for us."

"Aria, you don't have to make up excuses. If your parents are coming over and you're not ready for me to meet them then that's fine. I'll take no offense."

"Ezra, my parents are dead." She flat out said as his face fell. "Believe me, they are the least of your worries."

"I didn't know that." He said and raised his eyebrows, still a bit shocked by her bluntness. "I'm sorry."

"It's okay." She replied, her voice still indifferent by the topic. "Things happen." She said looking at him and giving him a small shrug. It had been years since the death of her parents and the grief grew old and useless for her. She didn't see the point of wallowing in despair just because things work the way they always do. Bliss, heartache, and death were bound to be in everyone's fate so why worry about the inevitable?

He slowly nodded. "Okay…but Aria, _my_ folks will be there." He told her. "They're dying to meet you."

Running her hand over her face, Aria thought about it for a moment. "Spencer is going to strangle me to death, you are aware of that, aren't you?"

"Then I'll bring you back to life, alright? I know CPR, the Heimlich maneuver, French kissing, reincarnating you back as a rock. Anything. You name it, I'll do it." He joked with a crooked smile.

She stared him for a while then scoffed. "Really? Just a rock?" She countered. "You couldn't even bring me back as an animal or something of a superior chain?"

"Fine. You can be a beautiful swan."

"I don't want to be a swan." She crossed her arms above her chest and glared at him.

He groaned and walked to her. "Then you can come back as a small girl who wasn't so damn picky about being a swan or a rock." He said and bent over to kiss her. Aria raised her arms and wrapped it around his neck while he lifted her by her underarms, hoping to get the second part of his reward.

"Maybe I should call her." Aria said as they both studied the ceiling, sharing a post-coital rest.

"Maybe." He said then he turned to his side. "Actually, why don't you invite her over for Thanksgiving?" He suggested. "I mean, it'd be a little confusing for my parents, bringing home two beautiful ladies, but they'll catch on—" He grinned widely. "I don't want Spencer disapproving of me and thinking I've stolen you from her." He explained. "I know how much of a sister she is to you."

He remembered owing Spencer and that if it weren't for their little incidental meet-up, he wouldn't be in bed with this girl right now.

"But you _have_ stolen me from her." Aria pointed out and faced him. She placed her hands underneath her cheek and looked at him square in the eyes. His dark brown hair grew fast and long and the little messy curls concealed his small forehead, making him look younger. She brushed the curls aside.

He smiled slyly. "Yeah, but we don't want her knowing that." He whispered and chuckled softly. "But I do want her to know that I'm serious about inviting her with us. Would she be up for it?"

"She'll play the bitter card, but she'll warm up to the idea, I suppose. If I'm persuasive enough." She replied and breathed out deeply.

Ezra rolled on top of her and pulled the blanket over their head, hiding underneath it. "You _are_ persuasive." He said and swooped down for a kiss. "Or else I wouldn't be here with you."

"Ha-ha." She retorted and pushed him off. "I should give her a call right now."

"Yeah, yeah." He said and watched her slide out of bed, not a stitch of fabric on her.

She closed one eye, scrunching her face and pulled the phone away from her ear as Spencer exploded.

"It's just this one time, Spence." Aria explained, bringing the phone closer to her ear now.

"That's how it always starts, doesn't it? Then next day you can't even come to—"

"Spencer, please, stop being so dramatic. I want you there. And doesn't the tradition just mean spending time together?" She pointed out. "So, what makes this any different?"

"Can you even hear yourself? Because I can and you sound ridiculous."

Aria rubbed her eyes with her two fingers, feeling a small headache coming on. "I'll make it up to you, but give me this one holiday. Just once." She negotiated and waited for her friend's decision. "I'll take you out to dinner tonight. With Ezra. Maybe you guys can talk about it." She wet her lips.

"I don't want to talk about it!" Spencer continued.

"Well, you're gonna have to because I'm not changing my mind." Aria said, putting her foot down, and waited a little for Spencer's response.

"_Fucking Ezra_." Spencer hissed and hung up, making Aria break out into a smile because she knew she had won this one.

She took quick, excited steps and jumped into bed with him. Flipping over the sheets, Ezra stretched out his arm, allowing her to rest her head on it.

"I take it she said yes?" He guessed, cocking an eyebrow.

"Not exactly in those words—" She raised herself up on her elbow and looked at him. "But yes, she'll come and we're going out to dinner tonight."

"Sounds like a plan." Ezra complied and gave her a smile, his hand reaching out ready to continue where they had left off.

"I mean, we're going out to dinner with Spencer tonight." She clarified as she held his hands in restriction.

Ezra looked at her and nodded. "Yeah, okay, sounds good." He said once again with the same enthusiasm. Before he could kiss her, he noticed her hesitance although he didn't know what it was for. "Am I supposed to be nervous? Does Spencer hate me?"

"No!" She quickly said. "She loves you."

"Then why are you giving me that look?"

"What look?"

"Like Spencer hates me."

"Just don't push her buttons tonight." Aria said once again. "She'll love you."

"I thought you said she already loves me." Ezra pointed out to her, a little bit puzzled at the moment.

"I know…" Aria sighed and surrendered. She moved away from him and reached for the drawer, taking out a book. Aria glanced at Ezra before turning her book to the first page.

"Reading that again. How many times have you read that, honestly? I'm starting to worry." He jested and took the book away from her hands.

"C'mon, can't we take a little break?"

Ezra took her suggestion into consideration as he held the book in hostage. "Only if you tell me why you're so obsessed with this—" He glanced at the book. "Velveteen Rabbit book. I don't know if you realize but this is mainly for children."

"Yes, I know." Tilting her head in dismay, Aria reached for it. "Just leave it alone." She said and stretched her arm closer to it, amusing Ezra at the same time.

"Oddball." He said to her as he handed back the book.

He held the door for her. Spencer walked straight in, giving Ezra the cold shoulder like a child that didn't get her way while Aria walked behind her, flashing Ezra an apologetic smile.

"Oh, this is going to be a hoot." He whispered after her with a wide grin.

Spencer looked at Aria, shooting her a glare while Ezra had his head down, eating his meal. Aria mouthed "stop" at her, but Spencer simply rolled her eyes. She always had fun playing the offense, but right now, she felt a lot like the victim, a role she was not used to playing. And for him to come along and suddenly make and change plans with Aria, that was where she drew the line. She wasn't jealous, she just didn't deal well with the change of pattern especially when the pattern had been the same for years.

At first impression, she honestly did not expect a man like Ezra, boyish and almost too happy-go-lucky, to have such an impact on her reserved best friend. The only reason why she had given him the chance to even get in contact with Aria was purely done out of pity and a cup of coffee, but no way did she expect them to stay together for so long - no matter how awful that sounded in her head. Perhaps she did underestimate him or overestimated Aria and maybe, she began to think that just maybe, she was the one being a snob.

Spencer watched the couple before her and studied him for a moment, noticing how he smiled at Aria, his eyes brightening up at her presence for no reason and Spencer didn't want to believe that he was simply just enjoying her face, but it did seem that way.

"She was full out freaking out. Walking back and forth, around the room, with a toothbrush in her mouth and a piece of bread in her hand. I don't know what she was trying to do, but it was really something to see." Ezra said, telling Spencer a story that occurred about a week ago.

He had caught her full attention because Spencer sat there quietly, nodding and looking intently at him while she vacantly ate her food.

"I don't understand why this story needs to be told—" Aria complained.

"Shush!" Spencer said to her, flicking her hand at her best friend.

"And she still hadn't noticed the time change, right?" He continued. "And there I was, just sitting on my bed, watching this girl losing it at 6 o'clock in the morning."

Aria rolled her eyes. "I never liked daylight savings time. Never have, never will. Don't see the point of it, to be honest."

Smiling, Spencer shook her head at Aria. "That's why you came to work way before anyone else did." She said as she put the pieces together. "You said you were turning in late papers!" She whispered loudly after realizing.

"Are you happy?" Aria asked, turning to her side to face Ezra.

"Don't shoot the messenger." He said and pressed his lips together, giving Spencer a wink.

"How are we doing here?" The waitress approached with a blinding smile. "Can I get you anything else? Desserts?"

Ezra took a cautionary glance at the women and nodded at the waitress, "We'll have the Eadweard Mousse cake." He said gesturing at the the ladies as well.

"No, I'm fine." Spencer told him as she took her glass of wine and drank it until it was empty.

Ezra shook his head at her. "No, no, no, you won't regret this." Ezra stated, quietly persuading her.

Aria watched the two and smiled to herself as she noticed Spencer weakly giving into Ezra's demand.

A few slices later, Aria watched the interaction and released a mental sigh of relief at how well they were starting to get along. She knew this for a fact because Spencer had emptied her plate, the cake she said she didn't want and she began to laugh genuinely this time. Perhaps it was the wine that changed her behavior, but nevertheless, it was still lovely to witness.

"Well no, see, that's the problem with you ladies." He continued and pointed at her with his fork. "You don't realize this, but women like _you_ are meant to be with men like _me._" He explained pointing the fork at himself now. "For equilibrium."

Spencer let out an incredulous chuckle, "Women like me?"

"Yes." He nodded, "Dominant, incredibly clever, successful, attractive—" He saw her lips aching to form a smile and right then, he knew he had her wrapped around his finger.

"Are you hitting on me?" Spencer half-joked with a quizzical look on her face.

"Only if it's working." Ezra quipped back with his crooked, boyish smile.

Aria cleared her throat at both of them. "Yeah, hi." She said to him, "Girlfriend is sitting right here." She chimed in and received a warm smile from Ezra. His hand crawled to her thigh and he leaned in, giving her a soft kiss as if to assure her of something.

Shaking her head, Spencer slowly smiled at the sight and turned away to give them some sort of privacy.

They waited out front as Ezra went to the counter, paying for the bill.

She directed her head toward her. "No." Aria said solidly and reached to grab the lit cigarette that was making its way to Spencer's lips. Spencer knew her friend meant well, but she really hated it sometimes. It was her only vice and it helped her calm her nerves.

"It's freezing." She excused and tried to steal the stick back even though she had a packet of it inside her purse.

"Then take my jacket." Aria glared at her and snapped the cigarette stick in half while Spencer scoffed at the sight. "I don't understand why you find it so appealing. It's a disgusting habit." Aria added, stepping on it until it was completely torn into mushed pieces and for someone so small, she looked incredibly challenging right now.

"You're a disgusting habit." Spencer muttered and Aria glared at her, big hazel eyes piercing right through her big brown ones. Groaning in frustration, Spencer sneered. "I swear if you were only this—" Spencer gestured with her two fingers, "Taller. We'd have it all out."

"Yeah, kill your best friend because she's trying to save your life, why don't you?"

Rolling her eyes in submission, she chuckled softly. "Always so melodramatic." Spencer muttered and glanced around, putting her hands inside her pockets to hide them from the cold. "What's taking him so damn long?"

"Don't act like you despise the guy because I know you don't. Not after tonight." She concluded and endured her friend's piercing glare.

Spencer reached into her purse, finally having the courage to take out another cigarette. She stared at Aria, gladly defying her face to face. "Sorry, what were you saying?" She said with a smirk.

Sighing, Aria licked her lips and gave in. "You will quit when I die, won't you?" She grinned.

"Well…according to your theory, I'd most likely to go before you. Isn't that right?" She pointed out. "So, no to your request." She replied while clutching the cigarette.

"And Ezra?" Aria said, bringing the topic back.

"What about him?" She asked and flicked the cigarette between her fingers, letting the ashes fall softly onto the ground. Noticing the silence, Spencer turned her head to look at her friend who pleaded for an answer through her eyes. What was irritating her the most was having to admit that she actually enjoyed Ezra's company tonight and once she revealed this, Aria would just put on that proud, self-righteous look on her face.

Clicking her tongue, she flicked the cigarette again. "_Fucking Ezra_." Spencer grumbled under her breath as she threw the cigarette butt away.


	5. Chapter 5

**For those who are asking, italics = flashbacks.**

* * *

Spencer gave her friend a side glance as she slowly took a sip of her beverage. She could see Aria trying to somehow hold it in together and she wished she could reach across the table and comfort her, but for now, she could only give her a vow of silence.

"I'm sorry." He let out a chuckle. "My mother is not very familiar with the term personal space." Ezra said to her while his mother gave them all a huge gleeful grin. She was bright and frank while her husband stayed quiet with a small content smile on his wrinkled face.

"It's okay." She whispered and let out a soft laugh.

"She can be a little too much." Ezra added and smiled at his mother.

It was true about how opposites attract. Ezra's father barely spoke throughout the night and when he did, the rest of the sounds seemed to become muffled while his deep voice mushroomed the whole house. He was frighteningly articulate and intimidating however his kind eyes reminded the people around him that he had a soft side and that made him somewhat approachable. On the other hand, the mother kept the room lively and warm. She could talk about the smallest thing, paint drying or even the weather, she could talk about anything and it would sound as if it was the most interesting subject in the world.

_"Here you go." Emily said while handing Aria two aspirins for her headache._

_Aria held her head back and swallowed down the pills then quickly washed it down with cold water. "Thanks, Em."_

_"I've never seen you this stressed before. Why is that?" Emily asked as she sat down on the wooden chair right across from Aria's desk._

_"Meeting Ezra's family for Thanksgiving…which is tonight." She took a deep breath and released it slowly._

_"Ahh." She nodded understandingly. "Well, that sounds like a fun time." She said genuinely, hoping to relax her friend._

_"Here's to hoping." Aria raised her glass and smiled weakly._

_"Knock, knock." Spencer announced. She stood by the door with a straight face on. "Your fanboy's here." She said, sticking her head at Ezra._

_Darting her a warning look, Ezra licked his lips. "Watch it, Hastings." Ezra replied and proceeded to enter the office. He had spent the last two dinner nights with these two wonderful women in his life. It was strange, being with Aria felt as if Spencer came with the package deal. But he didn't complain. Spencer grew on him and vice versa, he hoped._

_"Hey there. Emily and I were just talking about you. Your ears must be burning." Aria started. She didn't bother getting up from her seat because each time she moved an inch, the throbbing in her head got worse._

_"I'm gonna go, okay?" Emily said, patting Aria's hand before walking out the door. "Bye, Ezra."_

_"Bye-bye." He said then quickly turned to Aria. "The school has a half day." He informed, explaining why he was here so early. "Faculty meeting."_

_"Are you not faculty?" Spencer chimed in behind him._

_Ezra turned around and lowered his brow at Spencer who leaned against the door with her arms crossed above her chest. "Why are you still here?"_

_"I happen to work here."_

_"No, you're just standing there and pestering me—"_

_Aria groaned. "I like you two better when you didn't get along."_

_"We're not getting along now." He countered, his eyes darting back and forth at the two ladies._

_"No, we aren't." Spencer agreed with him, completely contradicting herself. "Talk to you later, m'kay?" She said pointing at Aria. Before turning away, she shot Ezra another glare and he furrowed his brow at her._

_"What's up?" Aria questioned, still sitting in her big chair._

_"How are we holding up?" He said, walking over to her._

_"Why would you ask that? I'm fine."_

_"Is that why you haven't moved from your seat since I walked in?" He pointed out._

_Aria shut her eyes. "I've got a headache, that's all." She could feel Ezra walking around the desk now._

_He leaned down, kissing the top of her head. "Do you want me to pull down the blinds?" He muttered against her head._

_"No, it's okay. It'll go away soon." She swiveled in her chair and faced him. Ezra leaned in closer and kissed her lips._

_"Is this about tonight?" He said, his lips just inches away from hers. She didn't answer so that probably meant yes. "What did I tell you?"_

_"To worry about every little thing?" She answered half-jokingly._

_He tilted his head at her. "Close, but no cigar." He sighed while she smiled playfully._

_The walls were covered with picture frames; The Fitz family portrait and solo pictures from their younger years up to Ezra's college graduation picture. There were at least a hundred of picture frames around the house; some were just pictures of every day scenes, but each picture probably had their own story. It made the room feel small and the guests a little claustrophobic._

_"Wow." Spencer whispered as she stood beside Aria. "I wasn't expecting this." She said, receiving a soft elbow nudge from Aria._

_"Hello!" The mother glided into the living room dressed in yellow dress with her hair styled in a neat braid. The energy of the house shot up as she smiled at them. "There's two of you…" She squinted at Ezra who was holding Aria's hand. "But I take it you're our Aria Montgomery—"_

_Aria's heart skipped a bit upon hearing those words. Our. And suddenly, she felt at home._

_Stepping in, Ezra nodded. "Yes. Ma…" Before he could finish his sentence, his mother was already clutching onto Aria, hugging her tightly. "And this is Spencer Hastings." He added as the two women parted._

_"And you too, you wonderful thing, come here." She said to Spencer and gave her a hug as well._

_"She's a hugger." Ezra said to Aria while they both watched Spencer being suffocated with affection._

_They were compassionate people. Spencer was grateful for that. She had explained to them about her situation with her parents and how she wasn't spending Thanksgiving with them, how she wasn't spending anything with them in the future. The Hastings family had a falling out years ago and it seemed that they never got back up from it. The family's separation was harsh, but they were aware of how badly they were falling apart and knew the separation was needed and that soon was followed by her parents having a divorce. Spencer's parents stayed in Pennsylvania while the sisters went off on their own and moved to New York to have their own lives. And Spencer stuck with her friend, knowing that Aria was the only family left in her life now since she was never close with her biological sister, Melissa._

_"You know, I never understood how parents could do that to their children." The mother commented then turned her attention to Ezra. "And I'm telling you now, don't ever do that to your children."_

_"I haven't even—" He parted his mouth and shrugged at Aria._

_"Don't let him do that to your children." She said facing Aria._

_"Darling…" Ezra's father chimed in, giving his wife a cautious look._

_Aria swallowed hard and nodded back at her, "I won't." She forced a smile and looked back at Ezra. It was a little unsettling to hear some expectations from someone she had just met. What was even scarier was how certain Ezra's mother was of Aria and her son's future with her in the picture._

_"Don't be fooled by his little act—" The mother continued. "Deep down, he's a family man. They both are." She said gesturing at Ezra's older brother to set an example._

_Spencer gave her friend a side glance as she slowly took a sip of her beverage. She could see Aria trying to somehow hold it in together and she wished she could reach across the table and comfort her, but for now, she could only give her a vow of silence._

_"I'm sorry." He let out a chuckle. "My mother is not very familiar with the term personal space." Ezra said to her while his mother gave them all a huge gleeful grin._

_"It's okay." She whispered and let out a soft laugh._

_"She can be a little too much." Ezra added and smiled at his mother._

"Aww, shush, young man." She said to her son. "I am not getting any younger and your old man sure isn't either." She cocked her head to her husband who nodded calmly. "We need a little bundle of joy around here. Your brother won't share little Tommy."

"Don't bet on it. You're gonna drive my kid nuts." The brother jested. He and his wife sat across from Ezra.

She shot a glare at him. "I wouldn't mind taking care of them." She continued on, looking back at Ezra again. "We've got all the time in the world, surely you know that."

Aria forced a smile while blinking in quick series then she reached for her drink, needing to soothe her dry throat.

"This pie is amazing, Mrs. Fitz." Spencer jumped in and Mrs. Fitz squealed almost instinctively.

"Took me hours to perfect it." She said with her beaming smile.

"Is there vanilla in this? It's very sweet. " Spencer guessed although she was not at all a baker, but she was good at pretending. She glanced at Aria. In a fleeting moment, Aria twitched a subtle smile as if to thank her for derailing the conversation; having Spencer around turned out to be a good thing after all.

All of them migrated to the living room. Ezra's parents set up a game of Scrabble. The only people who stayed out of the game were Ezra's sister-in-law and Mrs. Fitz stating that they were better cheerleaders than players.

"That's slang." Ezra told Aria, prohibiting her to place the tiles on the board.

"No, it's not."

"Mmm…" Spencer squeaked out, clearly siding with Aria.

Ezra turned to his father. "Swag is slang."

"I'm afraid it isn't." His father told him and gave Aria a smile to show he too was on her side.

Ezra's brother snorted out a laugh. "You should have stuck to photography." He said and flinched as he stole a glance at Ezra's glare.

"Hey, now, play nice. We wouldn't want this to be our last Thanksgiving together." Mrs. Fitz said as she played with Tommy.

"Photography?" Aria asked while fixing her Scrabble tiles, forming a six-word.

"Oh yes—" Mrs. Fitz came to sit next to them, ready to spill everything. "Ezra was very into taking pictures. As you can see." She gestured around the picture frames around the house.

"You took those?"

Ezra heaved a breath. "It was just a phase. Nothing special." He said half-heartedly.

"They are too special!" His mother retorted. The first glimpse of anger Aria had seen from her tonight. "I wouldn't have kept them if they weren't."

"You're a mother. He could take a picture of the lawn chair outside right now and you'd still keep it." The brother said and he was most likely to be right about that. Their mother was encouraging, too encouraging sometimes.

"He just doesn't want to look back on it." His mother continued on, admiring her son's long lost talent and ignoring the older son's insult.

Aria studied Ezra's face. She would mention this again, but only when it was just the two of them.

The men walked out onto the porch, enjoying their drinks while the rest stayed inside. The two men got along well enough, but Ezra never really saw his father expressing this in any way. He was now just realizing how similar his own father and his own girlfriend were.

"She's wonderful, son." He commented in a low, relaxed tone.

Ezra leaned against the wooden railing and nodded. "Because she reminds you of yourself?" He suddenly broke out into a smile upon hearing his father's little guttural laugh.

"No." He said, becoming serious now. "Because for once, I could actually see a woman carrying a conversation that didn't end in yes or no." He paused as he watched his son smiling proudly to himself. "And I guess she does remind me a little of myself." He joked.

"Knew it." Ezra said and took a big swig of his beer.

"Oh, I'm so sorry, dear." She said, patting Aria's hand very lightly.

Pressing her lips together, Aria nodded and forced a smile. She didn't feel uncomfortable telling people about her parents and she knew it was only instinct for them to give condolences, but sometimes, she wished people wouldn't get so affected by everything even death itself.

"You know, I read somewhere that the best way to take care of migraines…" The sister-in-law started, ready to educate and preach them about an organic remedy for everything.

And Aria paid attention, trying her best not to shut out the voices around her, but with Ezra's mother's hands still brushing against hers and the sister-in-law looking at her directly in the eyes, Aria felt overwhelmed by the attention. She managed to steal a glance at Spencer who played with Tommy from across the room, conversing with Ezra's brother.

The car stalled in front of the building. It was already eleven o'clock and they would have gotten back earlier if it weren't for the traffic. Aria rolled down the window while Spencer stood outside, leaning over to say something.

"Okay." Spencer pressed her lips together and tilted her head to the side. "Okay. I actually had a good time." She admitted with hesitance.

Ezra stuck his head out to take a peek. "Aww, is that Spencer being nice?" He asked with his crooked smile upon his face.

"Okay, leaving now." She quickly said and gave Aria a kiss on the cheek. "See you tomorrow."

He sucked in a breath as Aria looked at him. "So close." He joked.

The lights flickered on causing Aria to grimace a little and he was walking behind her, his hands on her waist. They kicked off their shoes, leaving them near the door.

"I don't think that's a good idea." She said as Ezra kissed the back of her neck.

"Why?" He muttered against her warm skin and they continued to walk, making their way to the bedroom.

She turned around and held his hands. "Because I feel like I'm gonna throw chunks right now." She revealed. "I ate too much."

"You're supposed to. It's Thanksgiving."

"Your mother is one hell of a cook." She added and he advanced forward, kissing her again. "Just not tonight, okay?" She said before slumping down onto their bed. Sighing, she unzipped her pants and looked down. "Look at this." She said and touched her bloated stomach.

Ezra watched, slowly laying down beside her. "What about it?" He asked and saw how her stomach was a lot bigger than usual.

"Food baby." Aria commented, still staring at her stomach. She sucked in, making her stomach small again then she sucked back out and the stomach inflated to a significant size. Ezra laughed hard, the sound taking over the apartment. Cocking her eyebrow, Aria now looked at him, a bit frightened and intrigued by his booming laughter.

"Do it again." Ezra said pausing to take a look at her stomach. Aria complied and sucked in and out and he bellowed out another laugh, rolling to his side.

She started to shake her head. "You are a man child." She said as he continued on. "I am literally dating a man child."

Ezra turned back to his side and faced her. "Come here." He said and she got closer, close enough for him to kiss her. Aria grabbed onto his shirt and pushed herself up so she could nuzzle up to him. Then very slowly, he slid back down, kissing her chin then her neck and now her collarbone. He smoothly raised himself up with his arms and looked at her before continuing.

"Don't be surprised if you feel vomit on your hair." She reminded him but he just smiled slyly and pulled her shirt over her head, leaving her in her bra.

"Okaaay…" He replied in singsong voice as his lips traveled down her stomach and his hands worked on her pants, attempting to pull them off.

And once all garments were off, he felt her legs tightening around his shoulders so he gingerly held her thighs, planting a few kisses there. Shortly after, Ezra lifted his eyes at her and saw her anxious face.

Aria swallowed hard and looked at the ceiling, feeling giddy and excited whenever his hot breath hit her inner thighs. Her mouth parted and she shut her eyes, letting him go on. Aria's fingers knotted around his hair and she let out a soft moan, moving her hips upward while his grip around her thighs tightened.

"Ezra…" She moaned out and felt her breathing going out of sync. She moved her legs a little bit closer as he continued on. Then one of her hands moved to the bed sheets, clutching it until her knuckles turned white. Then she felt him stop so she glanced down and saw him taking off his own shirt.

He moved up, making his way back to her now then pressed his lips against hers as she blindly unbuckled his pants.

"Still a man child?" He asked, smiling against her mouth.

"Always." She answered and kissed him passionately, inviting her tongue in.

Before heading back home, Aria and Spencer made a little stop to get something. The store had a stale, dusty smell to it and there were only two people browsing around. It was a place for antiques and very retro objects, some already used and some somewhat brand new.

"What are we doing here?" Spencer asked as Aria perked up, trying to look for a certain item.

"I just have to get a little something for Ezra."

"Which is…"

Aria arched her brow and hurriedly walked over to a certain aisle, finally finding what she was looking for. Spencer followed after, still feeling out of the loop.

"This." She dusted off a silver, aged Pentax K1000 and showed it to her friend. It had slight scratches on the metal part but it gave a certain character and soul to it.

"A camera?" Spencer raised her eyebrows quizzically. "I thought Ezra grew out of photography."

Aria gave a side smile. "People don't just fall out of love with things." She declared. "Maybe he just needs a reminder." She held the camera up again and headed for the register.

"Take-out!" He shouted excitedly and placed the paper bag on the table.

She shook her head at his child-like excitement and approached the table while he took out the food out from the bag.

"Chinese?"

"Indian."

"Indian?" She asked skeptically. "I've never had Indian food." She told him. Ezra was his own aspiring food connoisseur. He liked the idea of exploring new foods and enjoyed sharing the experience with others. Aria was the complete opposite.

"Then it must be your Indian-food cherry popping day."

"Hmm, sounds appetizing." She said sarcastically and sat down with him. "Oh. Wait. I'll be right back." She stood up and rushed off to their bedroom. A minute later, she was back with a small black paper bag and white rope handles.

"What's this?"

"See for yourself." She said with a smile and handed him the bag.

He peeked inside, furrowing his brow and decided to take it out. "Aria." He said as he held the camera in his hand. "Why would you get me this?" He put the bag on the table then tweaked with the Pentax's notches.

"Because you love taking pictures."

"_Loved_." He said tilting his head at her, "It's been a while. I—"

"Oh, c'mon. It's like riding a bike. You never forget it." She pointed out, reminding him of his own words. She walked to him and gave him a kiss as he raised his eyebrows in compliance, seeing that he couldn't do anything about it.

As he studied the camera, Aria walked back to the sink to wash her hands. A moment later, Ezra called out her name and she turned around with her lips naturally pouting. The camera shuttered, stealing a semi-candid of her.

"Hmm." He commented and examined the camera even more.

"Alright, now onto my cherry popping experience." She said while holding a fork in her hand, ready to unravel a whole new experience with him by her side.


	6. Chapter 6

"Oookay. It's fine. Shhh, shhh." Spencer said to her while stroking her friend's back. She scrunched up her face as soon as she heard Aria vomiting again. Spencer reached for the desk phone and called for a cab.

Aria was bending over a trash bin, throwing up for the third time. She mumbled something to Spencer without letting go of the bin. Her stomach was already empty which left her wondering what she could possibly be throwing up now.

"Okay, here, here, here, here." Hanna came back with two rolls of paper towels and Emily walked in, widened her eyes at the vomit on the floor, and hurried on over to the girls, hoping to lend a hand.

_The sound of the keys clacking bothered him to no end. Ezra noticed the sound coming from the living room so he got up and dragged himself to the living room to see what the ruckus was all about._

_"Hi. Did I wake you?" Aria said to him in a monotonous tone keeping her eyes glued to the screen. She was on the couch, slouched over her laptop with her legs curled beneath her._

_"A bit, yeah." He said and squinted at her. "What could you be possibly doing at two in the morning?" He said, still groggy. He couldn't see her clearly since the only source of light came from her small computer screen and even that was not enough._

_"I forgot to turn this piece in." She informed him while her fingertips pressed on the keys in continuous flow._

_"Oh, for heaven's sake, Aria…come back to bed." He said, leaning against the door jamb and running his hand over his tired face._

_Reaching to her left, Aria brought up a small plate. "Mhm-mhm." She nonchalantly responded._

_"Are you eating?" He asked and decided to get closer. "The leftovers?" _

_"I need something to keep me awake." She muttered, putting the plate back down next to her. "I'll be there in a minute."_

_"I thought you said you didn't like the curry."_

_And he was right. Indian food was not compatible with her taste. She hated it, but the spice gave her a kick and she needed that at the moment. "Keeps me awake." She repeated and started to type long paragraphs on her computer once again. She paused and turned to him. "The longer you stand there, the longer it's gonna take me to finish this paper."_

_He sighed and surrendered. It would still take a little more time for him to get used to her irrational hours of overworking._

_The morning started off slow. Aria was feeling hotter than usual and soon, she gradually began to feel drenched in her own sweat. She didn't know if this was an illusion, but it distracted her from working._

_"Hey, what the hell? I was calling you down in the lobby—" Spencer said, barging in her office with two cups of coffee in her hand. "I got you this." She raised the cup._

_"Is it me or is it burning up in this building?" Aria swallowed hard, her throat thickening for a moment._

_"…In the middle of November?" She asked as Aria made her way to her, slowly and slightly out of balance._

_"Oh—" She covered her mouth and took no further steps. Her cheeks puffed a bit and it looked like she was trying to hold something in._

_Spencer reluctantly backed away from her. "You're not gonna—" She flinched back as Aria held her stomach with one hand and the other still covering her mouth. And like a bat out of hell, Spencer watched her friend upchucking all over the floor, her hands failing to stop her mouth. Spencer quickly put the cups on the floor and attended to her friend._

_"Oh, shit—" Aria winced and felt squeamish at the sight while her hands stayed covered in her own puke. Then within a short interval, she felt her stomach turning in again._

_"Okay, okay, come here." Spencer grabbed Aria's arm and pulled her back to the desk and introduced her to the trash bin. Kneeling before it, Aria let another one go as Spencer yelled for Hanna, knowing she'd be right next door._

_After a few seconds later, Hanna stormed in. "Why are you screaming?" She watched the two girls and dropped her mouth open. "What the hell happened here?" She asked and saw the floor just several feet away._

_"Will you go get something to clean that up?" Spencer told Hanna while Aria continued to heave out everything._

_"Spencer—" Aria grumbled, her face hiding inside the bin._

_"Oookay. It's fine. Shhh, shhh." Spencer said to her while stroking her friend's back. She scrunched up her face as soon as she heard Aria vomiting again. Spencer reached for the desk phone and called for a cab._

It had been hours and she was still asleep after a good hour of puking out everything she had. Spencer cleaned up her apartment, leaving Aria resting in the bedroom.

"Yeah. I think so." Spencer said as she worked around her kitchen, cooking something while talking to Hanna on the phone. "Did you notify Mr. Keller? What'd he say? Yeah? Thanks, Han."

Frustrated, Ezra dialed her number for the umpteenth time and swore he would chuck the phone at the wall if it went straight to voicemail again.

Huffing a breath, he listened to the machine. "Hey, babe. What's going on?" He rubbed his forehead. "You weren't at the office. I'm starting to feel kinda out of the loop. Call me back." He said ending the call then he thought for a second and dialed Spencer's number, wondering why he hadn't thought of it earlier.

Ezra paced back and forth and waited for the third ring then finally, an answer. "Spencer, hey." He started and stood still. "Is Aria with you?" He asked without beating around the bush.

"She's over at my place."

He let out a sigh of relief, shutting his eyes for a second. "Oh okay. That's good." He said then paused. "Wait, why?" He shook his head. "Can I talk to her? I've been trying to reach her for hours. For some reason, she's not returning my calls."

"She's not available at the moment." Spencer simply said while turning off the stove.

"Am I missing something here?" He inquired and tried with every fiber of his being not to raise his voice, but he was desperate for answers and Spencer was not giving him anything.

"She's fine now." She said, keeping her answers terse. She placed the food onto her plate and walked over to the table.

"What do you mean she's fine now?" Ezra straightened his back and flared his nostrils. "Spencer, what the fuck is going on?" He said, slipping out of his calm state and finally raising his voice at her.

She was instructed not to tell but that was unavoidable. Evidently from his reactions, that was going to be hard to follow. "It's—" She sighed. "It might be some sort of stomach flu. I think. She didn't want me to tell you because she didn't want you to worry."

"So, what, your plan is to keep me out and hope I don't notice that my girlfriend has been gone for hours?"

"She didn't want you to worry." Spencer told him once more.

"Well, I _am_ worried!"

"Ezra, what was I supposed to do?"

"I don't know! Inform me maybe?"

"Okay, I am _not_ having this. This was Aria's idea, not mine so don't you dare yell at me." She retorted. "If you have nothing good to say then I am hanging up right this second."

"Wait, wait, wait." He quickly replied then heaved a sigh. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry. Don't hang up." He said and rubbed his chin with remorse. "Is there any way for me to see her tonight?"

"Fine." She thought about it for a second. "Why don't you come over?"

Since they were nearly the same person, Ezra wondered if Spencer's apartment resembled Aria's. He looked around, placed the paper bag with food on the coffee table and waited for Spencer. He had just checked on Aria and saw her sleeping soundly, but he decided to stay until she was well enough to wake up and hopefully, they would be able to go back to his own apartment.

"Been here all morning." Spencer informed as she walked into the living room. "We haven't even been in the office for an hour and she just started…" She raised her eyebrows, assuming he caught what she was talking about.

"It might just be morning sickness." He told her as he stayed seated.

Spencer looked at him questioningly. "Why would it be morning sickness?" She slowly asked, suspicious.

He didn't know if he was allowed to say without Aria's permission, but he assumed Aria had already told Spencer. "We've been trying…" He let out and saw Spencer sitting down as well.

"Trying to what—" She asked, wanting to hear him say it.

"I don't think I have to spell it out for you. You're smart enough to figure out." He studied her face and she seemed lost for a moment. "…Kids, Spencer. She and I have decided." He told her, wanting to convince her and hopefully, she would warm up to the idea of sharing her friend with him.

"Hmm." Spencer slowly tilted her chin up and nodded at him. She furrowed her brow at herself for a second and stared at him, trying to let the information sink in.

Ezra tried to decipher her face and shook his head at himself. "You think we're moving too fast, don't you?"

"Umm, well—" She arched an eyebrow.

"Look, you can think whatever you want. You have every right to, but…" He gave her a side smile. "If I were ever certain about anything at all, this is it. It's with her." He told Spencer and shrugged lightly. "Maybe we are moving too fast, maybe we're moving just fine." He continued on. "But at least we're moving together. Isn't that what matters?"

Spencer took a deep breath and tilted her head at him. "You are not at all what I expected." She said softly.

He smiled. "You shouldn't be too quick to judge."

"You kinda gave me all the reasons to, Mr. Pickup Line."

He pursed his lips to the side. "…Why is it that you don't like me?" He inquired, deeply needing to know the reason behind it.

After a long silence, she sighed. "The thing is I don't." She shrugged lightly. "It's just that I've seen many guys like you, but now I'm not so sure." She added. "And if Aria sees something in you then I guess I'll have to try and do the same." She admitted and forced a smile, surprising him a bit.

"Then shall we call it a truce?"

Shaking her head, Spencer leaned in. "No."

"Why not?" He asked, curious and confused all at once.

"Because then we'd be boring." She told him and immediately, he grinned widely. "I don't wanna be boring. Do you want to be boring?" She asked him and he shook his head in return. They stayed quiet for a bit, wallowing in their little agreement.

"Well, thank you…for looking after her." He said.

She cocked her eyebrow at him. "You're thanking me because I'm looking after my own best friend?" She stared at him as if he was stepping into the wrong territory.

"Why do you always have to be so sour?"

"I'm not being sour."

"You are. You'd be the poster child for anything sour." He said and there they were, back to their fighting although he knew it was a different kind now and he didn't have to worry as much anymore.

Clearing her throat, she crossed her arms above her chest and smiled weakly as they turned to look at her. "I thought I heard fighting." Aria said and ambled to them.

Ezra smiled, exposing two face parentheses between his little mouth. She was dressed in a huge, gray sweater and pajamas, and the color of her face looked paler than usual as if all the color in her had drained out for the day. He had a feeling she hadn't fully covered yet.

"How are you?" He asked and pulled her in for a hug.

"I don't think I'll make it." Aria said sarcastically and gave him a smile. "How'd you get here? Why _are_ you here?" She asked and he began to lean in closer, targeting for her lips. "No. I'm gross." She said to him, stepping back for a moment, rejecting the kiss.

"Okay." He said and cupped the back of her head, planting a kiss on her forehead instead. Her skin felt unusually warmer and clammy. "I'm here because I am responsible for all of this."

"And for the record…" She said as soon as he pulled away from her. "I am never eating Indian food ever again."

He laughed softly then gave her an apologetic smile. "Well…I brought you some soup. No more curry." He announced and walked back a couple of feet, gesturing at the paper bag. The ladies joined in as they all helped set up the little coffee table in front of them, preparing to have dinner together yet once again.

"This is a nice place you got here." Ezra commented as they continued to finish their meals. They all sat on the floor, legs crossed, and bodies near the table.

Spencer flashed a quick smile at him. The two soon realized how much of a peacemaker Aria was to them whenever they were together. She kept them from tearing each other's throats just by being in their presence.

"The only bad side to it is that I never want to go outside because I'm so comfortable here." Spencer jested and noticed how Aria was unusually quiet. Then she remembered about the couple's unspoken dilemma about moving in together.

"So much space for one person." Ezra added and glanced at Aria who slowly took careful sips of the hot chicken noodle soup.

"Not really." Spencer countered and started thinking of taking this conversation into a little detour. She faced Aria and squinted suspiciously. "Migraines again?" She asked and Aria simply nodded. "I'll get the aspirins."

"Didn't know you were so fragile." Ezra stated and moved closer to her. "You want to head home after this? Or would you rather spend the night here?"

Aria slowly lifted her eyes at him and gave a side smile. "The latter part? If it's okay with you."

He didn't expect that answer, but he nodded anyway, wondering why she preferred that choice. "If you want." He said in a low whisper then he licked his lips. "I'm sorry about the food, I wouldn't have—"

"Hey—" She stopped him. "No feeling bad, mister." She heard a sigh escape his mouth so she reached over, grabbing his chin and offered him a kiss on the cheek.

After cleaning up the table, Ezra walked over to the couch and grabbed his coat.

"Where you goin'?" Aria asked with lowered eyebrows.

Ezra held his coat, in the midst of putting it on. "Heading home? Didn't you want to stay here?" He reluctantly replied.

"Yeah. _With you._" She rolled her eyes and walked up to him. "What is wrong with you?" She added and took off his coat.

"You sure Spencer will be okay with that?"

"Will I be okay with what?" Spencer asked, walking into the living room with an apprehensive expression on her face. She studied the couple before her and quickly figured it out by how Aria threw his coat back on the couch. She groaned at them. "But you're buying me new bed sheets after because I don't want any residue from that—" She pointed at Ezra and scrunched her face. "…All over my guest bed." She said with a little sneer.

She peeked her head in and saw Spencer sitting up with her back against the headboard, reading a book.

"Goodnight, Spence." Aria said as she knocked on the door once. "Ezra says goodnight too."

"Don't lie to me." Spencer said nonchalantly and looked up with a small smile. "Night." She replied and before she returned to her book, she looked up again. "Aria?"

"Hmmm?" Aria quickly replied, taking a few steps back toward the bedroom door.

"Is it true that you guys are…" She thought about her words. "Trying?" She asked, using Ezra's words.

Aria stared at her for a while. Then she took a cautious glance outside before slowly stepping into the room, and closing the door behind her. "Hmm." Aria let out and nodded bashfully.

"What's that about?"

"Spencer, please." Aria implored while enduring her friend's judging stare.

She looked long and hard at Aria then she shook her head. "You know it's not right." She said disappointingly and reached over to her nightstand, switching the light off.

Aria glanced up at the ceiling, feeling ashamed then she licked her lips and quietly left the room.

"There you are." He grinned as he pulled the blanket up. He patted the spot beside him and she forced a smile as she proceeded to walk to their bed. Thinking about it now, Aria, for a split-second, regretted having him stay here. "How are you feeling?" He asked as he wrapped his arms around her and she leaned her head against his chest.

"I'm fine." She answered then lifted her head again to look at him. "I love you." She said in mid-whisper, her eyes locking with his. "I really do." She said tenderly.

"Even when I nearly killed you?" He smiled crookedly as Aria squirmed up at bit and began kissing him; the intensity growing each second. "Here?" He asked, managing to sneak it in between the kisses.

"Mhm-mhm." She mumbled and grabbed his face aggressively, pressing her lips against his much harder now.

Ezra arched his eyebrows and held her waist. "Spencer's gonna kill us." He pointed out and smiled.

"Since when did you care about Spencer's feelings?" She said as they continued to kiss feverishly.

Rolling over and moving above her, Ezra pulled back and looked at her for a moment. "I care about Spencer."

"Okay, can we not talk about her right now?" She reminded him and he nodded with a foolish grin as she pushed on his chest, allowing herself to settle on top of him.

Morning struck and Ezra awoke to an empty bedside. It took him a moment to absorb everything in.

He sat up on the edge of the bed and rubbed his face then he took a few glances around him, checking for a clock. Across the room, a round clock was near the dresser. It was already seven o'clock which meant he had two hours to get to work. Last night, he had figured out the distance between Spencer's place and his during his thirty-five minutes drive. Somehow, he would have to find a way to get ready for school without looking like a mess. Hastily, Ezra got up and grabbed his pants, slipping into with ease one pant leg at a time.

"Hey there." Aria greeted as she walked back into the room, in a neat pencil skirt and dress shirt with her hair up in a neat tiny bun.

"Hey, morning." He replied as he looked up at her from head to toe. "You're going to work?" He asked, a little bit surprised.

"No, what made you think that?" She remarked and rolled her eyes.

"You sure you're well enough to back?"

"Ezra." She scolded him. "I'm a grown woman." Aria walked up to him and grabbed the side of his face, kissing his forehead. She stepped back and looked at him. "Are _you _going to work?"

"No, yeah, yeah, I kinda have to." He tousled his hair. "I've gotta go spend the whole day having run-downs for the play."

She gasped softly. "That's today?" She smiled. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"I was going to. In a second, but you beat me to it." He threw his hands out. "It'll be around 5."

"Sounds good."

"You _will_ be there." He reminded her and was grateful that she was feeling better. He needed this day with her; he had already pictured it in his head. She would be sitting up front, legs crossed, clapping and beaming at the little children as he stood to the side behind the stage, smiling back at her and the kids.

"Of course I will." She smiled again. "I can't wait."

He then patted his pockets, looking for something. "I wish I brought a ticket so this could be official, but I will reserve you the best seat in the house."

She tilted her head and grabbed his hands. "I expect nothing less." She tiptoed up a bit and kissed him.

Barging in, Spencer glared at the sight. "Come on! People have places to be!" She exclaimed, throwing her hands up at them.


	7. Chapter 7

_**anon: "I THINK U SHOULD GIVE SPENCER A BOYFRIEND..." hahaha, oh don't worry, I will. ;)**_

_**Again, I don't think I'll ever get tired of thanking you guys for the lovely reviews so thank you, thank you, thank you. - Queen**_

* * *

Ezra clenched his jaw and began to pace around the living room. "Do you think that's fair? Just treat me like I'm disposable? As if what I'm feeling doesn't matter anymore?" He retorted as he took some steps closer to her. "You know, for once, you could try thinking about someone else other than yourself."

Aria swallowed hard and lifted her eyes at him. She knew he was speaking out of anger at the moment yet his words stung and almost made her believe it to be true. "I'm sorry." She breathed out. "I'm sorry, Ez—"

"No!" He shook his head at her and walked to the coffee table. "No, you don't get to do that!" He yelled and suddenly, he grabbed the book from the table and threw it across the room.

_Smiling to herself, Aria walked around the block and found a nice crowded novelty shop. She still had a couple of hours to spare before the school play and so she decided to buy a little congratulations gift for him._

_"Hm." She chuckled under her breath and grabbed a little trophy and read the words engraved in it. Her phone began to ring, scaring her for a bit. She knew it would be Ezra checking up her status so swiftly and recklessly, she put the trophy back onto the shelf, knocking a few others down. She scrunched her face and attempted to fix it with her hands while her phone continued to ring._

_A few seconds later, she was digging inside her bag, looking for her phone. Ezra Fitz. He was probably wondering where she was now. Aria sighed at the missed call. She placed the phone between her ear and shoulder as she continued to browse through the shelves._

_She grabbed a miscellaneous light bulb toy and fidgeted with it as the phone continued to ring. Aria furrowed her brow and pressed a button causing the toy to flash a sharp blinding light directly in her eyes. The bright light darted through her like knives and suddenly, she felt an instant pain behind her eyes while her vision was still very much washed out from the light._

_She could hear Ezra answering the call with a 'hello'. Aria blinked repeatedly and held onto the shelf for a second, feeling woozy._

_"You okay there, miss?" The clerk asked from across the counter, watching her compose herself._

_"Hm—" She slowly nodded with closed eyes as Ezra asked her what she was up to._

_The clerk furrowed his brow at her and within a flash, she had collapsed onto the ground like a broken marionette._

_"Can you hear me?" Ezra asked as the phone stayed on the floor. "Signal's not very good…you know what, I'll just wait up for you. Call me back when you're on the way. I reserved a seat like I promised." He let out a soft chuckle. "I love you. Alright, I gotta go. Bye-bye."_

_Spencer worked through the hours, writing and editing papers. She looked up at the sound of someone knocking on her door._

_"Hi, you busy?" Emily asked as she came in half-way through the doorway._

_"Nope. Why?" She stopped typing on the computer for a second._

_"Wanna come out with us for some drinks later?"_

_Spencer smiled and nodded. "Yeah, just remind me before you go."_

_"Where's Aria?"_

_"With Ezra." She answered as she swiveled in her chair. Emily nodded once and headed out._

_The soft pillows supported her head, but the thin light green blanket had failed to keep her warm. Aria slowly opened her eyes and glanced at the white ceiling._

_"Just in time." He said as he entered the room._

_Aria shifted her head in his direction and saw a middle-aged doctor. "Just in time for what? What's going on?" She asked and saw his little manila folder tucked to his side._

_"You passed out nearly an hour ago. I hope you are feeling better?" He walked around her bedside and began reading the files from his folder._

_"An hour ago?" She widened her eyes._

_"It's alright…I'll just have to confirm some things here before you can do anything else." He gave a polite smile._

_The seats were filled and the chatters gradually grew louder as more and more people walked in. Ezra sighed and glanced over at the crowd and saw the empty spot where she would be sitting._

_He turned his head and saw one of his students sitting quietly near the corner by herself._

_"Is everything alright here, Daisy?" Mr. Fitz asked gently and squatted before her. The little girl nodded shyly. "I've heard you at rehearsals." He smiled. "You're going to be just as amazing." _

_"My older brother is here." She confessed. _

_"And that's a good thing right?" He guessed as the girl kept quiet for a moment._

_She shrugged. "I don't want him to see me mess up."_

_Mr. Fitz smiled again. "You're not going to mess up. You're gonna remember everything. That's why you got this role." He nodded assuringly at her. "I wouldn't have given it to you if I knew you couldn't do this."_

_The girl stared at him and twitched a small smile. "Okay."_

_"Now-" He placed his palm out, indicating a low high five and Daisy grinned, excitedly slapping his palm with her own._

_"No headaches at the moment?" The doctor asked and she looked at him questioningly so he waved the manila folder at her, answering her implied question. "You've been getting a lot of those, haven't you?"_

_"Oh. Yes, my parents both had migraines." She explained. "It kinda just passed down to me. Nothing serious." She spoke quickly. She needed to get out of here as soon as possible._

_The doctor nodded and turned to the next page of her files throughout her years of living in New York and all her significant medical records. "And you take regular pills for those, I'm assuming?"_

_"Yeah. They go away almost immediately."_

_"Good, good, good." He replied and gave her file another run through once again. He peered at her, furrowed his brow and read the papers again._

_Spencer leaned back against her chair and yawned. Only a few more hours until she could finally get out and unwind with some friends. Reaching for her phone, she began to dial Aria's number hoping to find out her status at the moment._

_Spencer pulled the phone away from her ear and glanced at the screen. She made a face and ultimately decided to end the call, assuming she was with Ezra, watching the play and not wanting to interrupt it by answering her call._

_Ezra had given up the hope of seeing her tonight. The play had one more scene left and it was already past six and her seat was still empty._

_The audience gave their full attention; mostly just parents being proud of their own kids and some teachers giving their full support for a fellow teacher._

_Walking deeper behind the set, Ezra leaned against the wall, brought his knuckles up to his mouth and bit it as he watched the kids continue on with the scene._

_"And when do you think we can schedule the surgery?" She asked as she fidgeted with the blanket as a sign of her nervousness._

_"It's up to you." He said. "But my suggestion is the sooner, the better."_

_She nodded and thought for a moment. "Would it be okay if we kept this between us?" Aria asked with hopeful eyes. She was very much aware of the confidentiality between them, but she needed that reassurance directly from him just to satisfy herself._

_He had seen many like her. Someone who denied a call to solace, someone who would rather take care of everything on their own and in their own way without having to lean on another being or wanting to worry them._

_Finally, the doctor flashed a little smile and brought his fingers up to his mouth, zipping it. Aria smiled back and watched him leave the room. Pulling herself all the way up, Aria reached over to the foot of the bed for her bag and headed for the bathroom._

_The elevator slowly opened and Aria stepped closer and saw Wren leaning against the wall, waiting._

_"Hey!" He greeted cheerfully and stood upright. They had spent some nights together with both of their friends, Ezra's and hers, a few months ago. Wren reminded her of Spencer; thoughtful and serious, sometimes witty when the time was right._

_"Hi." She reluctantly smiled. Seeing him here made him a witness and that was the last thing she needed. What made it worse was that he was one of Ezra's closest friends._

_He stepped to the side and let her in. "What are you doing here?" He asked as the elevator closed. _

_"Uhh, just annual check-ups." She excused and glanced at the floor._

_Wren studied her face, squinting for a fleeting moment. "Everything went well? Healthy as a horse?"_

_"Yeah. Yeah, of course. Just fine. We can put away the pistol with this one." She joked and saw Wren's little hesitant smile. She shook her head at herself. "What are you—" She stopped herself. "I didn't realize you work here."_

_"Well, technically I work a floor up." He smiled. "But I was sneaking off to have a little break. I'm famished."_

_"That's—" She nodded and took a deep breath as the little bell rang indicating each floor._

_"How's Ezra? You treatin' him well, yeah?" He quipped._

_She looked at Wren and twitched a smile, keeping quiet. Often silence meant yes, but right this moment, she wasn't so sure._

_Aria closed the apartment door behind her and took a moment to skim over the place. It had been weeks since she last set foot here which sounded a bit idiotic in her head. It was crazy to think that her own place had become some sort of hideaway for whenever she wanted to be alone, her own house suddenly turned into a little desolate safe house and she became her own fugitive. She wondered if her crime was being an awful girlfriend or for generally being selfish, perhaps both. The thought of her being selfish still remained a little unclear. Was it so wrong to want to keep something to herself? Because even couples who slept on the same bed still had their own little secrets._

_She opened her purse, took out her phone, and dialed a number. Leaning against the door, Aria waited for an answer then momentarily, she heard the voice from the other end of the line._

_"H-hey." Aria said, her voice almost shaky. "I'm sorry I missed your call. Umm—" She carefully sat down on the floor. Thinking of what she wanted to say, Aria swallowed hard and pressed her fingertips against her forehead. "I really need to talk to you right now."_

_"Tell me where you are and I'll be right there."_

_He couldn't believe this was happening again. After wrapping up the play and shaking hands with the students' parents, Ezra headed straight home after his continuous attempts of getting in touch with her. From what he had learned yesterday, he called Spencer, hoping to get through her, but there was nothing._

_"Come on…" He said under his breath as he dialed her number one last time._

_"Shh…" Spencer stroked the back of her head, calming her down. "Have you told him?" Spencer asked and Aria clutched onto her tighter and shook her head. "Are you planning to?" She added and felt her friend shaking her head again._

_"He doesn't need to know." Aria said softly._

_Sighing, Spencer looked at her. "Aria Montgomery, I love you, but listen to me when I say this, you have got to stop being selfish."_

_"I know." Aria said and gave Spencer the same look, a weak and frightened glint in her eyes._

_This all felt too familiar and too soon. She knew that by Aria not telling him was just a way of preventing him from worrying, but that mere act of such prevention made it even more possible. He was going to worry either way. Spencer wished Aria would just accept that there was no way of avoiding that._

_"Okay…then we won't tell him." Spencer nodded at her. "Look, it's no big deal, I mean—" She paused to correct herself. "Two weeks will fly by. This whole thing will fly by and I'm here, okay?" She kissed the side of her head. "Everything's going to be fine. If not then someone is going to get a real ass-kicking from me." She added in attempt to make her laugh._

_"Something's wrong with me, Spence." Aria whispered under her little stifled sob and immediately, Spencer shushed her. She pulled her closer, wrapping her arms around Aria and couldn't help but wonder why she too was crying._

_After calling out from work, Ezra stayed in bed and spent most of his time there, thinking and wondering what had happened. It had been four days since they last spoke and saw each other. He didn't want to think that he had given up so easily but after endless amount of calls made, a few visits to her office, another attempt of trying to get some information from her best friend, Ezra had concluded it was no use and that Aria was going to come back when she was ready._

_Although he had all the rights to, Ezra didn't want to get angry. He had kept his patience well for the past two days and now, he was on the verge of losing all of his composure._

_From a short distance, he could hear the door unlocking so swiftly as possible, Ezra got up and walked to the living room._

_Staring at him, Aria bit her lower lip nervously and waited for him to say something._

_"Where have you been?" He asked motionlessly. He allowed a fair distance between them. Aria remained in silence and could see that he was trying his best not to lose his patience. After a long unresponsive silence, Ezra shook his head. "You missed the play." He said simply._

_"I know…"_

_"I was really looking forward to seeing you there."_

_She could feel a little frown forming upon her face. "I know."_

_"Where were you?" He asked again while she took a deep breath and shook her head this time._

_"I just needed some time off—"_

_"From me?" He cut in, his chest beginning to heave up and down from his heavy breathing._

_"No. Not from you. Just from me." She said, not really knowing what she wanted to say. "I don't know."_

_"You couldn't tell me beforehand? You just—" He exhaled sharply. "You disappear like some fucking—" He threw his hand and licked his lips then balled his hand into a fist._

_"No, I couldn't." She said quietly. "I just needed some time to think, that's all."_

_"That's all?" He scoffed and placed his hands above his head and exhaled sharply as she stood still, staring at the ground._

_"Yes…" She let out weakly._

_Ezra clenched his jaw and began to pace around the living room. "Do you think that's fair? Just treat me like I'm disposable? As if what I'm feeling doesn't matter anymore?" He retorted as he took some steps closer to her. "You know, for once, you could try thinking about someone else other than yourself."_

_Aria swallowed hard and lifted her eyes at him. She knew he was speaking out of anger at the moment yet his words stung and almost made her believe it to be true. "I'm sorry." She breathed out. "I'm sorry, Ez—"_

_"No!" He shook his head at her and walked to the coffee table. "No, you don't get to do that!" He yelled and suddenly, he grabbed the book from the table and threw it across the room. "Four fucking days, Aria!"_

Stunned, Aria stepped back near the door and watched him. "Ezra…"

"Tell me the truth." He demanded as he placed a hand on his waist, collecting his cool. "Have you met someone else? Is that it? Is it that fucking guy back at the cafe?"

Aria furrowed her brow and stared at him in awe. The mere fact that him questioning her faith was crushing. Dejectedly, Aria pressed her lips together and apologized once more.

"Can't you just tell me the truth?" Ezra said as he walked up to her. "I need to know."

Unable to look at him in the face, Aria moved in closer, tiptoed up to him and pressed her face against his. She thought of Spencer telling her to stop being selfish and so this was her chance.

"…I just don't want to be with you anymore." She whispered softly and she could sense everything disintegrating between them as much as she didn't want it to.

He could feel his throat tightening, the beating inside his chest losing its synchronization, and the feeling of her soft skin pulling away from his own, and from everything they once had together.

"I should have known." He finally said. "They were right about you." He added as he remembered what Hardy said to him, and sometimes even Wren.

Aria took more steps back, nearly hitting her back against the door. "…About me?" She asked although she was sure she didn't want to know anymore.

"All you truly care about is your damn career and yourself and…I tried so hard to overlook that from the very start." He told her and shook his head. "What the hell was I thinking believing you'd be capable to have a family?"

Covering her mouth with her hand, Aria swallowed hard and shut her eyes. "Stop…" She said.

He could see that she was holding in her tears by avoiding eye contact and he was still enraged by her behavior and he wanted her to know that.

"You're better off alone. You're just too—" He clenched his jaw, trying to come up with the right words and glared at her as she began to cry.

"Stop…"

He threw his hands. "Too fucking impressed with yourself! You know, after all those times we tried, I'm glad it never happened. I think life did us both a favor!"

She shook her head, glanced up at the ceiling and cried quietly. Finally, finding it all too hard to take in, she turned around and opened the door. Aria wiped her eyes and left as quickly as possible. Watching the door slam, Ezra took heavy, short breaths and realized how appalling and disgusting of a being he just became. He refused to feel guilty, arguing with the faint voice in his head that told him to go after her, apologize for everything. But Ezra, annoyed and red from anger, did not budge an inch.


	8. Chapter 8

It was Sunday, nearly a week after their separation, and he predicted that Aria would be here, shopping for grocery as well. It was their routine, used to be anyway. A lazy Sunday afternoon spent together, meandering around the city and preparing for the weeks to come with their little grocery bags, but to his dismay, such routine ceased to exist.

Ezra was somewhat glad to see her out and about although a part of him wanted to see her in a terrible shape just to know she wasn't over him, but seeing her here on a Sunday implied that she had not forgotten and that made it all seem okay for him.

As he watched her load her groceries in the paper bag, Ezra noticed her bright yellow sweatshirt; the same one that was only to be worn on certain occasions.

_"You're gonna have a heat stroke with that thing on." Ezra pointed out as he tugged on it. He didn't know how she was not sweating in the middle of June especially with the sweatshirt on._

_It had been nearly a month and a half of this; fighting like little children and spending the nights together like adults._

_"You're stretching it!" She exclaimed, slapping his hand away from her sweatshirt. It was the last present she had received from her mother and every time she had a challenging day, she would wear it to feel the least bit of strength. And today was the day Ezra decided to teach her how to ride a bike._

_"Let's go, let's go!" He pulled on her yellow sweatshirt again while his other hand held a tight grip around the bike's handlebars and her helmet._

_"Couldn't you have just gotten us a tandem bike?" She protested with her arms crossed above her chest._

_"So you could sit behind me while I do all the work?" Ezra cocked his head at her. "I don't think so. You're not getting off that easy, missy." He moved the bike closer to her. "Come on, hop on." He patted the seat and looked at Aria who had a terrified and somewhat irritated look on her face._

_She groaned. "I hate you so much." She said as he smiled. As she settled herself on the seat, Ezra brought up the helmet and put it on her. "How sexy." She said with a little sneer._

_"You have no idea." Ezra added and grinned as he cupped the back of her head and rewarded her with a sloppy kiss. Pulling back, he smiled playfully. "Now, onward!" He shouted as he pushed her bike causing her to jerk._

"Sir, that'll be $27.03." The cashier said to him. Ezra pulled his eyes away from her and returned to the cashier.

"This one too." Mike said as he approached her with a pack of cigarettes.

"Absolutely not." She scolded him, grabbing the little rectangle box and put it back on the shelf. "Since when did you start smoking?"

"Since you left." Mike snapped.

With her mouth parting open, Aria shook her head. "You're really going to pull that on me, aren't you?" She said softly and turned her face away from him. She hated being reminded of how awful she was after their parents' death. After leaving Pennsylvania, Aria moved on with her life in New York and left Mike with their aunt and uncle. It was a terrible thing to do, that she was aware of, but she tried compensating by supporting him financially every month for the last ten years.

Aria looked up and saw his familiar face just four check-out lanes away. She stared on, waiting for him to look back, to take notice of her, to know that she was still there.

"Fine, look, I'll buy it myself." Mike said, but Aria paid no attention to him.

Taking his bags, Ezra took a final look at her and saw a young looking blonde guy kissing her forehead, brushing her arm almost too affectionately. Finally, the two caught eyes for a fleeting moment before Ezra, frustrated and confused, turned away quickly and headed for the exit.

"I said I was sorry." Mike said again and pulled away.

"I heard you." Aria said nonchalantly as she watched Ezra from a distance, getting farther and farther away.

_"How do you stop?" She widened her eyes and held onto the grips as if her life depended on it._

_Ezra laughed and chased after her. All five miles per hour of her and her bike rolling down the hill. Then quickly, she began to steer in a messy zigzag and Ezra was already behind her, stopping the bike with ease, and saving her from hitting the pavement._

_"See, that was fun, wasn't it?"_

_"No! You're a sadist!" Aria said and quickly got off. She thought about how it was going to be her turn to torture him with their little game somewhere in the future. She then took off her helmet and headed back up on the hill._

_He raised his hands. "Aww, c'mon, where you goin'?" He called out after her. "That was just the warm-up, babe. I set up obstacles with hoops on fire and everything down the street!" He teased and laughed at her._

_"Go away, Ezra." She huffed and continued to walk up, heading back to their car._

For him, it was just another day for a distraction. They sat around the living room, drinking beer from bottles, and eating chips from bags. The television roared and Hardy cheered with a fist pump as his team scored a touchdown.

"Awh, hell." Wren complained and swatted the opponent's victory with his hand. He glanced at Ezra who had an indifferent expression on his face. "Guess who I saw at the hospital today?" He started before taking a big swig of his drink.

"Look, buddy." Hardy interrupted. "I know you're a doctor and all, but that doesn't mean _we_ care about your patients." Hardy answered without taking his eyes off of the television. He stuffed his mouth with chips and carefully watched the replay of the touchdown.

Completely ignoring his comment, Wren focused on Ezra. "Aria and a young bloke." He said and raised his eyebrows. "And her best friend. The tall one. Can't remember the name at the moment."

"Spencer." Hardy chimed in. He was good with names. And attractive women, not necessarily in that order.

Ezra remained aloof and assumed it was the same blonde guy at the market he saw the other day. Giving in, Ezra put the beer bottle on the table. "Any reasons why?" He asked Wren.

"No, sorry. That's all I got." Wren replied. "I'll find out if you want, yeah?" He was leaning in, waiting for Ezra's approval.

_They hid under the covers and continued on with their silly frequent pillow talks. Aria traced the bridge of his straight nose with her index finger as they lay on their sides, naked and warm. Four months and it never seemed to get tiring._

_Ezra scooted a bit and kissed the tip of her nose. "I like you so much." He said in a low whisper making her laugh._

_"You're such a little schoolboy." She stated with a wide smile then quickly scowled and pulled him in. He wrapped his arm around her, rolling her over on top of him while maintaining to keep the covers over their head._

_"Would you marry me…" He said as his finger traced the outline of her spine. "…If I proposed to you with a ringpop?" He continued on with his elementary facade that she secretly enjoyed from time to time. He could feel the weight of her body pushing down on him and it felt good, secure almost as though they were starting to coalesce._

_"Hmmm…" She let out and rubbed her nose against his. "I'll have to think about it."_

_"You'll have to think fast or I'll be tempted to eat it. Exactly how many people do you know can actually turn down a wearable candy?"_

_Chuckling, Aria rolled her eyes at him and played along. "Okay…then yes." She nodded eagerly and gave him a peck on the lips. "Yes, I will marry you." Another peck. "Yes, even with a ringpop for a ring." She smiled and kissed him again. "And yes…" She kissed him much longer now then pulled back. "Because I like you so much too."_

_"So, is that a yes?" He jested and rolled over one last time._

Aria shot up in her chair, knocking some alertness into herself as she self-consciously looked around her, hoping nobody noticed her little frantic jump. She had realized she was not sleeping at all. For almost fifteen minutes, she was sitting in the waiting room with her eyes closed, recalling certain memories and reliving them in her head.

She rubbed her temples then her eyelids to lessen the pain. She got up from her seat and decided to look for Mike or Spencer who should be around somewhere. But before she could even get near the door, someone was already calling her up. Sighing, Aria cursed their timing.

Sitting again in a different room this time, Aria studied her surroundings. This was a different room; smaller and so devastatingly white that it was giving off a sadder atmosphere than most hospital rooms already would.

"Can I come in?" The voice through the door asked as he opened it little by little.

Aria widened her eyes at the terrifying familiarity of his voice. Walking in, Wren, all dressed appropriately even up to his polite yet friendly smile, greeted her with a timid hand wave.

"Where's Dr. Smith?" She asked as she quickly stood up.

Gesturing with his hands, Wren could easily see that she was reluctant about him. "Don't worry, he'll be here soon. He's often occupied with other patients. An emergency today...so I'll be doing your check-up. Just for today. It's not permanent." He explained to her. "Please have a seat. It's alright."

"Uhh, sorry, I just—"

"Ms. Montgomery, you'll have to trust me. I know I look young, but—" He gave a charming smile and waited for her to take a seat and shortly after, she obeyed. "Lovely. Now, how are we today?" He asked while opening the identical manila folder that Dr. Smith had.

_"Come here!" He said as he pulled her back into bed with him, causing her to let out a little yelp. Ezra wrapped his arms around her little waist and showered her bare shoulder and neck with kisses. They were both half-naked, her slightly buzzed off and him completely out of it, and still fully energized._

_"You are drunk." Aria pointed out and tried to stifle her laughter while he continued to nibble on her neck. They had gone out with a bunch of friends for a drink a couple of hours ago and evidently, he had a little too much. She didn't mind it, but right now, she needed to pee and Ezra was preventing her from doing that. There was nothing sexy about urinary tract infection._

_Once more, he pulled her up gingerly as she held onto his forearms, fully giving into his demand. "Just stay here with me. Please. Just stay in bed with me. Don't go anywhere. Aria…" He pleaded and moved her hair to the side, exposing the back of her neck. He ran his lips over the soft skin of her neck and hugged her tightly. "You're so warm. Why are you so warm? Just stay here with me, will you?" He rambled in a drunken slur as he pressed his face against her shoulder blades then near her neck, basking in her warmth._

_"Okay, okay." She said, rolling her eyes and tilting her head to the side. "I'll stay, but you will let go of me." She ran her hands up and down his forearms and laughed to herself. "Will you let go of me, baby? Please?" She asked as she tried her best to shift her neck to take a glance back at him._

_Ezra hesitated, but ultimately unwrapped his arms, freeing her at last. Aria let out a sudden hearty laugh and climbed out of bed as quickly as possible._

_"Ahh! No! Get back here!" He called out after her, groaning as she laughed her way to the bathroom, knowing he would be too uncoordinated to chase after her._

Ezra let out a small laugh from the back of his throat as he read the page. Covering his mouth with his hand, Ezra looked up at the students and was pleased at how they all looked so concentrated with their pop quiz.

Rubbing his forehead, Ezra continued to read her little journal that she had created on the day they had met. She really _was_ a writer. All the stories, the moments, and the things he couldn't even remember were so written with details and vivid imagery that he was starting to feel as if he was traveling back to the events. He knew he shouldn't have been reading it in the first place. It was personal and dare he say, insignificant now because of what had happened between them. However, nostalgia and curiosity drew him in as soon as he spotted the book in his apartment, untouched and forgotten. Each page had reminded him of what they created together - magically and merely through her own little words that were written in black ink. And even though he should be loathing her for some stupid reason, he couldn't help but feel this immense gratitude and maybe even a little flattery for what she had recorded throughout their seven months of remarkable affair.

From the very top of the page, Ezra followed the little arrow that she doodled, indicating the last line of the previous paragraph.

_'Although lacking all sobriety, I knew I had madly and unfathomably fallen in love with him all over again. My intoxicating intoxicated little drunkard.'_

And almost like a reflex, he shut the book, exhaled sharply, and felt a sudden weight inside him, a combination of all that was good and painful. As he contemplated, Ezra could feel all the doubts seeping in, the doubt in her words on the day they had broken up. The only way he could refute this feeling of skepticism was to talk to her, to demand it out of her, and convince her that what they had wasn't something they could just easily give up on. All the proof was in the book, the one she had written herself.

"How's Ezra?" Aria asked as she gathered her belongings.

Wren gave a neutral smile. "He's hanging in there." He informed her and she nodded quietly. "I still think you should have given him a little credit." He stated as Aria let out a dry smile, finding it a bit funny that he would say the same thing Ezra once said to her. "But I suppose that's your prerogative." Wren added.

"Yeah." She moved her mouth to the side and shook her head at the sudden thought of telling Ezra everything. "I'll see you around." Aria said, offering a reserved smile.

As soon as she left the room, Wren swallowed hard and stared at the door while the folder remained in his hand.

"Oh, hell…" He breathed out and ran his fingers through his hair, wishing he could turn back time and just stay oblivious of this new knowledge of Aria. It was not something he wanted to get involved with, but knowing this and being Ezra's friend, this was something he needed to tell him even if it meant breaking a few work rules. Wren shook his head at the sudden burden he unintentionally stepped on. Things got worse as Wren realized that Hardy was right and often, when Hardy was right, it was never a good thing.

_"Yeah, well, we've been trying." He admitted._

_"Good on you, mate." Wren replied as they prepared their snacks. Their Monday nights were nothing but sports, beer, and small talk. One of the things he loved about Aria was that she never gave him a hard time whenever he wanted to spend the day with his own group of friends. They agreed and loved the idea of having to have their own nights off from each other in order to balance out their relationships with their separate friends._

_Ezra placed the six-pack on the glass table and Hardy was already sitting on the floor, taking control of the clicker. "Yeah." Ezra said with a small smile. "Sometimes I wonder if I'm just imagining it."_

_"C'mere." Hardy grabbed Ezra down with him and slapped him._

_Wincing, he furrowed his brow at Hardy. "What the hell is your problem?"_

_"Okay good, you felt that. No, yeah, you're awake." Hardy joked. "Now, stop with all this baby business and saccharine shit or I swear, I'm gonna throw you out the window."_

_Ezra pushed him back down and grabbed the bowl of chips in front Hardy. "If you think you're getting any of this, think again."_

_"She's not perfect, you know." Hardy pointed out as he leaned against the couch's feet, laid-back and arrogantly twiddling his thumbs._

_"Since when did I say she was?" Ezra countered just to shut him up. This felt like high school all over again._

_"Well, you keep talking about her like you hit the damn jackpot, but everyone's got a little malfunction in them. Remember that. You just gotta find it." He said to Ezra. "And you—" He pointed at him, "You are incredibly awful with that part. You just get too clouded, man." He said and Ezra took a defiant step toward him._

_Before anything turned to chaos, Wren came running in between them. He glared at Hardy as he held back Ezra. "For fuck's sake, Hardy." Wren retorted. "Learn when to close your mouth once in a while." Wren turned to Ezra. "Don't let him get to you. It's great that you're planning to have children with her. I'm really happy for both of you."_

_"I am too!" Hardy defended, cutting in. "I'm just saying—"_

_Ezra shut his eyes for a moment, shook his head, and left the room. Wren heaved a sigh and glared at Hardy then soon, he followed Ezra._

_"Are we still watching the game or what?" Hardy called out after the two men._

He watched the blinking lights as he pressed the phone against his ear. "Stop by my place in half an hour." Wren said over the phone. The elevator door opened and a few people came in so Wren stepped aside. "No, I just—" He sighed. "It's important. Something you probably should know or would want to know at least. No, I'd rather not say it here." He rubbed his forehead. "Because it's not appropriate!" He whispered loudly and saw some people trying their best not to turn their head at him.

"I'm scheduled in three days." Aria revealed to her. Spencer kept a relaxed face, knowing it was not beneficial for the two of them to feel nervous at the same time. They sat on the bed, across from each other and stayed there for a while with thoughts racing in their own mind.

"That's good. That's good news." Spencer said trying to keep her mood up. She examined her friend's face then tugged on one of her toes. "The more you think about it, the more apparent it's going to be. It's nothing, Aria. Just a bump along the road, that's it." She reassured her with a confident smile. With an excited gasp, Spencer sat up and reached for Aria's hands. "Let's go out dancing!"

Aria lowered her eyebrows at her. "No, Spence. Wha—" She looked at her in disbelief. "No."

"It'll be fun!" She pulled on her ankle and tried to get her out of bed.

"No, Spencer." Aria said and shook her off of her.

"Why?" She whined and continued to pull her down. "It's been a while. We'll have a good time. C'mon!" She nudged her leg again. "Why don't you wanna go?"

Pulling the blankets over her body, Aria lay on her side. "Because I feel like it's gonna happen any time soon. I don't want to risk anything just because you wanted to go dancing." She tucked her hands under her cheek. "I don't wanna move, that's all."

"If I had a dollar for every time I hear you say 'that's all'." Spencer bit her lower lip and moved on up closer to her. She breathed out a sigh through her nose and leaned down on Aria's side thigh, pressing her chin down on it. "So, what? Your plan is to just sit here and wait?"

"Mhm…"

"Nothing's going to happen to you…" She told her. "Promise."

Aria looked down at her and nodded even though they both knew it was not up to anybody to decide on what was going to happen next nor did they have any power over fate and more importantly, life itself.

"Alright, what am I doing here?" Ezra asked as Wren keyed his apartment door. "I swear if this is one of your fail attempts of medical—"

"You care for a drink?" Wren cut him off as they both entered the place.

"No!" Ezra retorted, giving Wren a quick look. "I'd rather know what's going on." He said and watched Wren head to the kitchen, ready to grab them both drinks anyway and so he followed as he grew impatient by the seconds.

Wren leaned against his kitchen marble counter and calmly sipped on his can of beer.

"I saw Aria earlier today." Wren began and already, as a response, Ezra let out a heavy, disdainful groan. "Now, now, let me finish." Wren countered, holding up his hand at him. "I know you two didn't end things well and I also know you weren't exactly a gentleman about it."

"I had every right."

"I know you think you did, but I think things are turning out differently than you assumed them to be." Wren scratched the back of his head, losing his own sense of clarity. He shook his head and looked at Ezra square in the eyes. "I had to do a check-up on her. Her doctor wasn't available and she's been stopping by a lot and—"

"Just spit it out, man. I don't have time for this."

"Right—" Wren placed his drink on the counter and rubbed his hands together. "You told me you guys were trying…for a family, weren't you?" He sighed. "Well, that wasn't going happen."

"Of course it's not going to happen. Not anymore." He replied and furrowed his brow. "You made me come all the way here just to tell me that?"

Wren rolled his head and exhaled slowly. "Fuck, I'm really going to have to say it, don't I?" He gave him a studious look. "Listen, even if you were still with her, it wasn't going to happen either way. Unless you try for adoption."

Lowering his eyebrows, Ezra stared at Wren. "What?"

"Hardy was right. She's not perfect—" Wren bit his lower lip. "But I don't think she had any choice." He walked to Ezra and placed a hand on his shoulder. "She can't have children, mate. Even if she wanted to and I know how much you wanted it. I'm sorry, but you needed to know." He let out another sigh. "Because I have a feeling you've said something you shouldn't have said to her and maybe you can put things right if you can. If you still want to."

Furrowing his brow yet again, Ezra stared at Wren as the pieces began to fall into place, creating the big picture, an answer perhaps and hopefully another chance for a new start. He knew something wasn't normal - the months of trying, her reactions toward the children, and her career. He had realized that she was not a career woman by choice. It was merely an act, to cover up for the things she couldn't have, for the only thing she wanted the most. Ezra shook his head at himself and at his own words. She was far from being selfish and her breaking up with him was a way of freeing him even when she never wanted to in the first place.

He swore under his breath and recalled all of the things he said to her, realizing how much damaged he had done.

"I gotta go…" Ezra breathed out as he ran his hand over his forehead, quickly heading out.

"Wait, wait, Ezra—" Wren called out after him. "That's not…" He closed his eyes as the door closed. "That wasn't all…" Wren said, exhaling sharply.

_Peering over his book, Ezra tilted his head in attempt to catch her attention. They lay in bed, him on the other end of the bed while she leaned against the headboard with a book in her hand, lost in her reading._

_Ezra threw his book to the side and looked back at her once again, still trying to get her to look at him._

_"I'm not looking at you…" She said indifferently, still keeping her eyes on her book._

_Smirking, he let his fingertips do a little strut above her ankle and up to her calf. "Let's give it another try." He said and grabbed her foot, giving it a light massage._

_"I'm reading…" She said in the same tone._

_Ezra rolled his eyes and quietly crawled up to her. "C'mon, we can try again." He said and grabbed her book, reading the cover. "This again." He gave her a look. "The Velveteen Rabbit." He said out loud. "What is it with you and this damn book?"_

_"It's a good book." She tried to grab it back but he pulled the book away just in time. "It's a favorite." She added._

_"Yeah, well." He threw the book away and returned to her, giving her a pleading soft kiss now. "Another try?"_

_Aria kept her hands against his chest, prohibiting him from going any further. "I'm starting to think this whole trying to get me pregnant is just your devious plan of having sex with me all the time."_

_"Well, we wouldn't exactly have to try again and again and again…" He said as he swayed his head to the side and looked at her intently. "If you would just work properly the first time." Her face fell and Ezra knew he had upset her. "What? No, no, I didn't mean for it to sound like that—"_

_Pushing him away, Aria quickly climbed out of bed, grabbed the book from the floor and headed out._

_"Aria, c'mon. I wasn't blaming you." He threw his hands in front of him. "Maybe it's me! Maybe I'm malfunctioning or something." Ezra said once again and watched her storm out. He grabbed a pillow and pressed it hard against his face, frustrated and annoyed with himself._

_Hours had gone by and Ezra woke up from his deep sleep, felt the empty bedside and realized she was still outside, probably sleeping on the couch. He got up and walked to the living room, hoping to convince her to come back._

_She slept on the couch, on her back with the book left open at a random page resting on her chest. Ezra approached her, sat on the floor and reached for the book._

_"Hmm…no…" Aria said softly, guarding the book with her hand._

_Ezra watched her half-sleeping. "Are you still angry with me?" He questioned as he let go of the book._

_"…Are you still a jerk?"_

_He smiled and shook his head, impressed at her capability of being witty while in a state of slight unconsciousness. "Not at the moment." He told her._

_"I don't buy it…"_

_Ezra smiled again, reached under her body and lifted her up. "I'm sorry about what I said…" He said as he carried her. "We'll just have to be patient." He told her. "But it's going to happen sooner or later. It will."_

_Aria wrapped her arms around his shoulder and neck. "…But when it doesn't?" She asked as she hid her face in the crook of his neck._

_As they walked back to their bedroom, Ezra shook his head at her. "It's going to happen." He repeated, determined and sure, and she remained quiet, letting him have his false hope._


	9. Chapter 9

_**Thank you for the reviews, everyone. :D - Queen**_

* * *

"Now, where were we?" Ezra asked her as he gestured at the thin, dog-eared book with a rabbit cartoon for a cover. Smiling, he watched Aria shrugged in response. "Found it." He said and opened the book at the marked page. He took a small breath before starting off his reading. "Here we are…" Ezra said and began reading:

_"Real isn't how you are made," said the Skin Horse. "It's a thing that happens to you. When a child loves you for a long, long time, not just to play with, but really loves you, then you become Real."_

_"Does it hurt?" asked the Rabbit._

_"Sometimes," said the Skin Horse, for he was always truthful. "When you are Real you don't mind being hurt."_

_"Does it happen all at once, like being wound up," he asked, "or bit by bit?"_

_"It doesn't happen all at once," said the Skin Horse. "You become. It takes a long time. That's why it doesn't happen often to people who break easily, or have sharp edges, or who have to be carefully kept. Generally, by the time you are Real, most of your hair has been loved off, and your eyes drop out and you get loose in the joints and very shabby. But these things don't matter at all, because once you are Real you can't be ugly, except to people who don't understand."_

The reading stopped and Ezra stared at the book, pausing to take a breath.

* * *

"Would you like a bag, sir?" The cashier asked and in response, Ezra shook his head and took the items in a hurry.

Making his way back to his car, Ezra moved quickly as possible, gathering everything he needed before seeing her. He reached over the glove box, took out the tickets and slipped it inside his inner jacket pocket.

"I'll answer dinner." She told Aria over the phone. Spencer still had a few hours left of work.

"How's Mr. Keller?"

Spencer leaned back in her chair. "He's actually the one who suggested you take a break so don't worry about him, okay?" She glanced outside her office and heard arguing muffled voices right outside her door. "I'll call you back. I should probably get back to work—"

"It's your lunch break, Spence." Aria pointed out, not fooled at all.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm gonna head down to the lobby." She got up from her big chair. "Aria, hon, I'll see you soon?"

"Yeah, sure..." Aria said in a skeptical tone. "I'll see you soon."

Her door busted open, scaring her for a second. Spencer glared at Hanna. "What the hell?"

"I told him. He wouldn't listen." Hanna explained as Ezra entered the office. "I tried. I'm sorry!" She apologetically exclaimed and hurriedly stormed out, not wanting to get involved.

"I need to talk to you." He said, walking to her desk.

Straightening her posture, Spencer crossed her arms above her chest. "Why?"

"Wren told me about Aria." Ezra told her and Spencer looked even angrier but not surprised at all. "Let me talk to her, please. I need to see her."

"I don't know what you said to her, but there's no way in hell I'm letting you near her again."

Ezra clenched his jaw and looked at her, pleading in silence. He couldn't blame Spencer, but he wished she would just let him have the opportunity to redeem himself especially after what he said to Aria.

"I was wrong. I know that now." He admitted.

"You know that _now_?" She scoffed. "And am I supposed to find this ironic? You suddenly appearing out of the blue, coming to me to apologize for what you said the day before her surgery? It had to take a fucking brain aneurysm to bring you back?" She retorted. "If you think that's enough to justify you, you have never been more wrong."

He recoiled and stared at her. "What? She—" He breathed out, trying to process everything in. "What? I don't understand."

Spencer drew back and did a double take, realizing she might have slipped something. "What did Wren say to you?"

"What the hell did you mean by aneurysm?" He said, deeply perplexed. He moved closer with an intimidating stance. "Spencer, please—" He exhaled sharply. "…Did you ever want to change someone's life just by doing one little thing? Just one thing." He licked his lips as she looked at him with pondering eyes. He gestured with his hand. "Because this…" He said, implying their situation that could possibly have the biggest impact unless she refused. "This is it. I need to see her."

They unpacked the groceries quietly, too quietly. Mike glanced at her and noticed the spaced out look on her face.

"At least we're ready, you know?" Mike said casually to strike a conversation and she looked at him with a questioning expression.

"Ready? Ready for what?"

"It's not gonna be like it was with Mom…" He explained as they continued to unload the food. "Because at least with you, we know about it and we're taking care of it before anything else happens."

"You mean like dropping dead?" Aria joked.

Mike glared at her. "You think it's funny, but it's not. Not even a little."

She nodded, showing that she understood what he was trying to say. "Like mother like daughter." She jested yet again, but Mike shot her another glare, clearly not finding any of this humorous. "Lighten up, Mike."

"You're not gonna end up like Mom." He said sympathetically. "You can't…or else…" He stopped moving and gave her a long and hard look.

"Or else what?"

"Or else it'll just be me." Mike said. "And you know I don't do well with _just me_. I only made it this far because you were there."

"Mikey..." Walking up to him, Aria gingerly grabbed him around the neck and pulled him for an embrace. "Don't you dare do anything that'll make me hate you." She said softly and he chuckled as he tightened his hold around her body.

"Well, don't you leave without me." Mike replied and felt Aria resting her head between his shoulder and neck.

Naturally, she spent her free time writing out her thoughts and when she lost the muse for it, she would diverge to her work. Aria stayed in her little office area, slouching over and continued writing by hand. Rubbing her eyes hard, Aria could feel it kicking again. The never-ending aching inside her head, irritating her with the throbbing and the sharp pain behind her eyes. With wandering eyes, she saw her phone and checked the time. Late afternoon. Often, just around this hour, Mike would come back and join her for lunch. With that thought in mind, Aria got up and aimed for the kitchen.

She stopped walking and watched the door as she heard the second knock. "_Mikey._" She groaned and headed for the door. "I just gave you a key!" She shouted through the door then as she got close enough, she reached for the doorknob. "Why aren't you using—" Aria closed her mouth, hearing her teeth knock together.

With his head a little tipped forward, Ezra swallowed hard, feeling an overwhelming emotion flooding over him.

"Hello..." Ezra greeted softly and she was frozen for a second. "May I come in?" He asked and saw her considering the thought.

Aria stepped to the side while her hand still clutched the door. Ezra did a little glancing over. Her place was dim. He figured it was to lessen her headaches and luckily for her, the sun these days set earlier than usual.

"What are you doing here?" She finally asked as she closed the door behind her.

Ezra turned around and faced her. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"Tell you what?"

"Everything. The truth. The—the surgery and—" He began to stumble into his words nervously. "And the baby. Why…why didn't you tell me, Aria?"

Frowning, Aria shook her head and walked to her living room and she could feel Ezra following her without hesitance. "Why does it matter?"

"It matters to_ me._" He said after her. "You let me say all those horrible things to you."

"Oh, so now you're blaming me for your own insensitivity?"

Ezra moved his head to the side. "No, what? No. That's not what I meant at all. Aria…" He pressed his lips together. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean a word, not even a pause. Please believe that. "

For a moment, she looked at him, trying to read any sign of dishonesty in his eyes. Then she nodded and in response, Ezra came closer.

"This—" She took a step back, holding her hand out in front of her. "This doesn't change anything, Ezra." Aria licked her lips.

"Why? Why can't it?"

"Because you see, you want something I can't give you."

"Then I don't want it—"

"No." She said, not allowing him to say anything more. "You shouldn't _have_ to do that. You shouldn't have to_ sacrifice_ what you _want_."

"If we're not meant to sacrifice anything for anybody then what the hell is the point of everything?" He argued.

"Ten years from now, you're going to despise me, you're going to wish you had never stayed with me because I couldn't give you what you truly wanted. I'm not going to let you throw your life away just because you think you want to be with me."

"Fine." He said throwing his hands out. "Then give me those ten years." He said with a shrug, not willing to throw this all away just because she decided to be a martyr. "If you're right…then you can say 'I told you so'." He said and felt right to offer a small smile. "And I don't think I want to be with you. I _know_ I want to be with you. There's a big difference."

Aria, with furrowed brow, shook her head once again. "You can joke all you want, but you know you deserve a nice woman who can give you all these things—"

Sighing, Ezra moved closer. "Aria..." He tilted his head to the side. "Don't I deserve you?"

"You have no idea what you're saying..."

"I do, alright? I do!" He retorted. "Please..." He shook his head at her. "Don't make the mistake of pushing me away when you need me the most."

"I can't." Her lips twitched downward and her shoulders did a little shrug. "I'm not even a real woman, I'm not—" She said, hating herself for this sudden self-pity.

"You're just as real as any person I know." He reassured her. "Hell, you're twice the woman I thought you were."

"I can't give you what you want." She could feel her eyes filling up with tears. "How ever much I wanted to." She said, her voice breaking and the pressure in her head became more palpable as the tears welled up more and more.

Without hesitating, Ezra moved in for an embrace. "You're not going to make me give up on you, Aria." He swallowed hard and pressed his lips against the side of her head. "I won't let you." Aria held onto him tighter, giving in. She pressed her face against his broad shoulder, and closed her tear-filled eyes, wetting his shirt. Ezra kissed the side of her head and smiled. "Oddball."

She let out a shaky chuckle and pulled back. "You're relentless, did I tell you that?" She said.

He then gave her a small nod. "I remember." Cupping the back of her head, Ezra pulled her in and kissed her hard, feeling excited and new all over again.

"I've missed you." She said softly against his mouth as he proceeded to lift her up, letting her legs wrap around his lower back.

"I know." He answered back and let his fingers get tangled up in her hair.

It didn't take them long to walk to the couch; Ezra sat first, letting her sit on top of him, straddling him with her limbs and went on without breaking their kiss. Aria felt him fisting her hair, unknowingly worsening her headache.

Grabbing his hands from the back of her head, Aria pulled them away and intertwined her fingers with his. Ezra pulled her closer, grabbing her chin and kissing her passionately while letting his hand go around the back of her head again, knotting his fingers once again, lost in his passion.

Aria let out a sharp gasp and lowered her eyebrows, quickly pulling away.

"You alright? Did I hurt you?" Ezra asked and dropped his hand and let it rest on her waist instead.

"No." She shook her head. Leaning closer, Aria held the sides of his face and rested her forehead against his. "I'm sorry..." She breathed out a heavy sigh. "My head is killing me."

"…Right, that." He said, remembering that everything was not fine. There was still a slight chance of losing her, slim chance yet there it was lingering in the back of his head. It would only take one little rupture in her head and that would be the end for them. But Ezra shook the thought off, wanting to believe that life wasn't that harsh.

She shut her eyes, a bit frightened at the thought. "Ezra—"

"No." He vigorously shook his head and pulled away a bit to look at her. "I'm going to be there, okay? And I'm not going anywhere." He reassured her and she nodded. Ezra gently grabbed the back of her head and kissed her forehead. "It'll be over before you know it." He said, his mouth still pressed against her skin.

Then suddenly, there was a beep followed by a voice from the answering machine. Ezra and Aria listened in attentively.

"Hey, I'm running a bit late. The car wouldn't start, said it needed an oil change. That piece of crap." Mike laughed. "I don't know how long this will take, but I'll be there - maybe for dinner instead of lunch? No, no, scratch that. I'll be there, I'll just take a cab." He said. "Take care of yourself." Mike said just as soon as the machine beeped again, ending the recording.

Looking at her quizzically, Ezra waited for an explanation. "Is that the same guy from the market? Kissing you?"

She burst out laughing and as if to punish her for laughing, her head throbbed harder. "Ezra. You can't be serious." She said, cocking her head at him.

"I'm not implying anything, but—" He pressed his lips together, stifling himself from feeling envy or curious rather.

"Hmmm, I would totally get with that guy." She said sarcastically. "But I'm not exactly into incest and last time I checked, that's still illegal." She joked and sneered at him and he tilted his head back, feeling like an idiot.

"So, you'd do it if it wasn't illegal."

"Ezra..." She said, disgusted at the thought.

"What? You two do not look anything alike." He defended himself and Aria rolled her eyes, lunged forward and started kissing him again.

"Right." She sneaked in between their kiss.

"Wait, wait—" He stopped her. "We can't take long."

"…Okay. That's—"

"No, I mean, I'd love to, you have no idea, but…I got us something."

"A dinner reservation?"

"No. Better." He licked his lips excitedly and reached for his jacket pocket, taking out two tickets.

Her mouth slowly dropped and she let out a shocked chuckle. "Broadway?"

"Mhm-mhm." He nodded, moving closely to her and nuzzled her chin with his nose.

"Tonight?"

"Mhm-mhm." He said once again.

"Broadway." She repeated and grinned. "You were certain about getting back with me, weren't you?"

"Wasn't going to leave without you." He said. "…Tickets cost a lot, it'd be a waste if I didn't use it." He quipped and smiled. Scoffing, Aria pushed his shoulder and attacked him with kisses. "Wait, wait, wait—" He said quickly, pulling back again. "One more thing."

"More?" She cocked an eyebrow.

"Mhm-mhm." He said as he reached into his pocket and revealed a ringpop, still in its little plastic package.

Laughing, Aria let her finger linger on her lip while he unwrapped it. "You never fail to remind me of how much of a little boy you are." She said in her little giggle.

"Well, you did say yes."

"I did."

Ezra looked up at her and took her hand. Between their unspoken words, Aria nodded and he slipped it on her delicate finger.

"Guess we're married, huh?" He said and kissed the back of her hand.

"My, that's a pretty big rock. My friends will die of envy." She joked and studied the candy for a moment. Ezra took her in and pressed his lips gently against hers. He smiled crookedly at her and caressed her back with his palms. She reluctantly let out another gasp then parted her lips, moving away from him.

"Do you want me to get you aspirin?" He asked, knowing that she was taking a breather due to her headache.

"It's fine. I'll get it myself." She gingerly got off of him and before she could walk away, Ezra lightly grabbed her wrist and she turned to look back at him.

Ezra brushed his hand over her wrist before saying what he wanted to say. Looking up, he pulled her closer. "I'll find a way for you to not regret this." He said with a little nod. "I love you."

Leaning down, Aria touched the side of his face and smiled. "I'm not regretting anything." She told him. "Don't you dare go anywhere. I promise I'm coming back." She said with a warm smile. Moving in, Aria kissed him once more before going.

He watched her go until she was out of his sight. Wiping his palms on his thighs, Ezra laughed to himself, replaying her words and realizing he had said those on their first night together. She was subtle, so subtle in her ways and that reminded him more of his luck to even have her.

Breathing heavily, Aria held the glass of water in her hand and stood still for a moment, feeling lightheaded. She clenched her jaw and tried her best to overcome the hammering pain in her head. And before she could place the glass of water back on the marble counter, her grip was lost and the glass slipped out, falling hard onto the linoleum floor.

From the distance, he could hear the glass shattering against something hard. "Everything okay in there?" He called out and stayed seated, waiting for a response yet there was none. Wrinkling his face, Ezra got up and headed for the kitchen.

"Aria?" He aimlessly called out and saw her feet hiding behind the kitchen island. "Aria." He widened his eyes at the glass shards near her.

He hurriedly made his way to her. "Hey, hey, hey, hey…" He said nervously as she lay on the floor with her eyes closed and mouth slightly parted. With sudden frantic taking over him, Ezra sat on the floor with her, scooping her up. "Aria…" He cradled her as his eyes hysterically checked her from head to toe. "Baby, wake up, okay? You—" His chest heaved up and down and he touched her face, his hand roaming and confused.

"Aria. Aria. You gotta wake up." He whispered loudly, slightly shaking her. With strong refusal, he brought up his hand near her neck, checking for a beat, a pulse, anything that would tell him she was okay. He pressed his hand harder, failing to feel a thing.

"No, no, no, no…" He whispered. "Aria, please wake up. Please." He swallowed hard and held her closer, burying his face deep into her neck. "No…no, no." He shook his head and desperately rocked her in his arms. Pulling back, Ezra studied her face and blinked so he could see clearly. Shutting his jaw tight, he could feel a flooding anger in him although he couldn't figure out why and what he was angry about. It didn't feel fair for anything like this to happen, not so sudden and especially not after their reconciliation.

Ezra held the side of her face. "Aria…" He leaned down, pressing his forehead against hers. "I'm here. Please, I'm still here." He begged as the lump lodged in his throat.

Shaking his head once more, Ezra brushed his thumb against her cheek that had gotten wet from his own tears, his forehead still pressed against hers and slowly, with trembling lips, he furrowed his brow and pressed his lips against hers. And the feeling of what was once unspeakably wonderful and warm became nothing but emptiness and unfeeling.

Ezra pulled himself apart and held her there while a sense of loss took over him, swallowed him up and disabled him from moving. Once more, he gazed at her and did not look away for what felt like an infinite moment, and he sat still, refusing to believe what was in front of him. He didn't welcome the idea of how something could be taken away so effortlessly and without any secondary warning. So he held her tightly, unwilling to let go.

There she remained, still as ever and never having any chances to move nor feel again, never having another opportunity for anything at all. Aria Montgomery with all of her feelings and ideas, her intelligence and her vivid memories had left, leaving her Ezra behind and unknowingly stealing an irreplaceable piece of him.

As always, she was the first to leave.

* * *

Knocking on the door, Spencer peeked her head in and saw him with a book in his hand.

Ezra turned back and smiled. "Just putting the little one to bed. I'll be there soon."

"It's okay. I just wanted to check up on her before heading to bed…" She leaned against the door. "But I guess you beat me to it." Spencer walked to them and sat on the floor right next to him, resting her head against his thigh.

Looking down at her, Ezra sucked in his lower lip and began wondering. He couldn't - didn't want to think of how life would have been if Spencer never came to his rescue. They were aware of what kind of relationship they created, a foundation that was purely made from grief. Although it seemed like that kind of foundation would easily fall apart, they were comforted by it, knowing what loss they both shared and the feeling, the unbearable and lingering feeling became almost like a secret understanding between just the two of them.

"Do you ever wonder what she would think of this?" He asked, not taking his eyes off of their sleeping five year-old Aria.

"Of course." Spencer answered and looked up at him. From her view, she noticed his hair gleaming with the light bouncing off its reflection and she could see some gray hair already. "She would've been happy. Happier."

"Happier?"

Thoughtfully moving her lips to the side, she heaved a sigh. "Because after everything, you still got what you've always wanted. What she dreamt of giving you. Even if it's only with the second best." She pressed her chin against his thigh and watched her daughter. "Some days, I end up thinking she planned for all of this to happen. For everyone's sake."

Ezra didn't argue. It was wrong to let her think otherwise and he knew that she was aware of the fact that it would always be Aria and Spencer didn't fight it either. How selfish could she be to steal her best friend's last memory of happiness? She gave Aria that - his unceasing amour for her - as a sense of closure, a closure that she never really timely received.

* * *

_Her eyes looked over at the mourning crowd, ready to leave the black gathering. Spencer ambled her way to him as he stood in front of the newly set tombstone. He stayed in silence and acknowledged her presence by letting out a sigh._

_"I don't get it." Mike said with a hushed rage awaiting to escape through his voice._

_Spencer nodded in agreement and saw Mike taking out a cigarette. His hand shook causing him to take a few angry tries with the lighter before it was finally lit. He looked at Spencer and gestured at his lighter, but she shook her head, refusing the offer._

_"I'm sorry. I didn't know you quit."_

_"You should too."_

_"Why?" He flicked the ashes off._

_"She hated it."_

_"Is that why you did? For her?"_

_She shrugged lightly as the smoke wafted in her direction, bringing certain memories back. "No, mostly just for me. I'm not as selfless as you think I am." She admitted. "She would always give me a hard time about it, always telling me to stop like the parent she was." She told him._

_"Yeah, you and me both." He said._

_"…And somehow I just think that maybe if I did something she'd always wanted me to do, maybe...she'd come back and I wouldn't be so—" She licked her lips and rubbed her eyes. "Unhappy." She breathed out the word and turned to him. "That's why you should do the same. If not for you then for her…if she means anything at all to you." She said hoping the guilt trip would work._

_"Yeah." Mike said casually, acting apathetically and they stood there quietly contemplating the thought._

_"You know...you always think you could change people." Spencer said, more directly to herself than Mike. "But the truth is, people change you."_

_Mike didn't say anymore. He wasn't going to tell his sister's best friend that he was only doing this, smoking pack after packs, because of what had happened; it was his way of hurrying up the process, seeing how it was only him left and it seemed that there was not much to live for._

_"Where's he anyway?" Mike said changing the subject._

_Spencer remembered even though she had been trying not to think about it because it angered her. "I have to go talk to him."_

_Nodding, Mike kept his eyes on Spencer as she walked off toward the path that lead to the parking lot. He sighed and examined his cigarette stick, and ultimately threw it away, despising it - every single detail it carried. He glared down at it, loathing its presence all of a sudden._

_Wren, dressed in his scrubs, opened the door for her and cocked his head toward the room to the right, indicating that he was there. _

_"I tried, he didn't want to come with me." He put on his coat. He was in a rush. After attending the funeral, he had to run back to the apartment and change into his work clothes. _

_"You're leaving already?"_

_"I have a shift."_

_"Right." She said and walked in._

_"You call me if anything—"_

_"It's fine. I'll take care of it." She forced a smile._

_Wren gave her a small smile and swallowed hard. "I'm so sorry..." He said to her. "I really liked her." He sighed. "I guess I should have told her that more often." He let out an apprehensive chuckle._

_Spencer nodded quietly as Wren gave another smile before leaving the apartment._

_Days went by and he felt stuck in the same day with her, reliving it in his head, and was not able to think of anything else; the what-if's and could have been's were gnawing at him. Ezra heard a knock on the door, but he didn't bother with it._

_Spencer took in a deep exhausted breath and invited herself in._

_"Where were you?" She questioned as he stayed in bed without speaking. "You should have been there. Out of all people." She continued and decided to approach him. She sat on the edge of the bed and felt him shifting in his position, ready to listen fully. "You're not the only one who lost a best friend, Ezra." She pointed out as he sat up and looked at her. Ezra saw her covering her face, trying to keep it together._

_"Spencer…"_

_She turned to him in one quick motion. "Why do you get all the right to mourn?" She said angrily, crying now so he pulled her in for a tight hold, wrapping his arms around her, consoling one another._

_Without knowing or thinking about their impulses, they moved in such a way that their face met just in time for a kiss as if to draw themselves away from the bitter reality._

She placed the little white feathered outfit on their little sofa chair. "Her first play." Spencer repeated excitedly. Aria's first school play for Swan Lake that Ezra had been taking care of for years running.

"You don't think I'll get fired for nepotism, do you?"

Spencer chuckled. "Goodness, I'd love to see that." She smiled at him. "Teacher fired for giving own daughter the lead role for kindergarten play." She said, pretending to announce the newspaper headline.

"News are pretty slow these days. It'd make for a nice story." He joked back and started to undress himself, preparing to go to bed.

The play ran only ten minutes; Ezra didn't want to think it was not a big deal, for others it was, but for him, it meant so much more. He had remembered his promise regarding her reincarnation and this was the closest he could get. Somehow, somewhere, Ezra liked to believe she was rolling her eyes at him once again, mocking him with her toothy smile.

Her memories didn't leave them. She was around the house, through all the pictures he took with her camera, the love for photography, a rekindled love that she reminded him every time he would take a picture, and even in Spencer as she was like Aria in many aspects, and the biggest and best memory of her yet is their little one, Aria Em Fitz.

Ezra's ears perked up and Spencer glanced at him, hearing the same sound from the other room.

"I think she's calling for you." Spencer said as Ezra took his garments and slipped them on. "I told you not to give her snacks so late at night." She scolded and always did because she was a daddy's little girl and her daddy was very weak when dealing with her.

Before leaving their bedroom, he walked up to her and gave her a goodnight kiss. "Be right back."

"Hmm…" Spencer replied and watched him go to their dresser, grabbing a book on the way.

After a few little stories, Ezra had failed to convince her to go back to sleep. Little Aria shifted in her bed over and over again and her eyes danced, trying to find a comfortable spot. He could already see the resemblance that she had received from Spencer, the quick wittiness, the energy, and her frightening early maturity. But in terms of appearances, Ezra knew she had his features; the blue eyes, the slightly darker hair, and the wide crooked smile she would often display.

"One more!" She squealed, demanding with her tiny voice.

"Okay, okay. One more then bed." He sighed and smiled widely. "Would you like to hear how you got your name?" He asked as Aria nodded eagerly and so he continued. "Well, I went to this bar with my friends. Back when Daddy was a lot younger."

"Daddy, what's a bar?" She asked. She was at that certain age where questions never seemed to run out.

"A place where you are not allowed to go to. Ever." He said, pointing at her and she giggled. "And there was this girl."

"Mom?"

"Mom's friend." He opened the book and went to the very last page. "Here…" He took out a picture and showed it to her.

"Who's this?"

He grinned. "It's you." He joked as she widened her eyes. Aria stared at the picture of the woman, the inspiration for her name, standing near a kitchen sink, looking at the camera with her small pouty lips and subtle smile.

"She doesn't look like me." Aria commented.

Smiling softly, Ezra leaned closer. "Do you want me to continue with the story?" He asked as Aria nodded excitedly, holding the picture tightly with her little fingers.

_He could hear himself sighing with relief in his head, proud that he wasn't coming home alone._

_The cab slowly stopped beside them and Ezra gently placed his hand on her lower back as he opened the door for her._

_"Where to?" The driver asked and Ezra immediately informed him the address._

_Aria watched, observed, and smiled sleepily to herself. It would be a lie to say that she didn't feel excitement from this. She began to think that perhaps her friends were right about this. A night in their drunken stupor. Yawning softly, Aria glanced outside the window, seeing the bright lights of New York city. She really hoped sleep would not ruin this fling, whatever they called this._

_"How long is the ride?" She asked turning her head at Ezra._

_"Hm, about 20, 30 minutes."_

_"Quite far."_

_"It's not bad. As long as you have a nice view." He said and looked at her. They held each other's gaze and she rolled her eyes, sliding closer to him. Ezra took a deep breath and raised his arm and put it around her._

_Aria leaned her head against his chest and sighed out the sleep from her body. Furrowing his brow, Ezra looked down a bit and saw her with her eyes closed and her chest heaving up and down softly._

_Her arm went around his chest, embracing him and in return, he held tighter, feeling strange and compelled to, to be quite honest._

_Shortly afterward, he could hear her breathing softly against his chest. Ezra shook his head, cursing the booze, and reminded himself to make her a cup of coffee rather than what they had originally planned. But there was something unsettling about her level of comfort with someone she had just met. Ezra wondered if she was always like this…perhaps it was just the alcohol._

_"My intoxicating intoxicated little drunkard." He whispered against the side of her head, his mouth pressed lightly against her hair._

_Smiling to herself, Aria kept her eyes closed and enjoyed his light embrace. She stayed this way, letting him think she was asleep. She retreated back to what her friends told her. One night with one man. What could possibly happen?_

_But this moment could be it - her own denouement and hopefully, his as well._

* * *

**...**

**This is the last chapter. Don't kill me. I'm gonna go hide now. - Queen**


	10. Commentary

Since someone asked me if I could add an "Author's Note" explaining/responding to some stuff. So, here it goes:

**_Anon: hi i know im just an anonymous reviewer but i really loved this story it was amazingly wrritten and beautiful i was crying at the last chapter. i was just wondering if you could please please please please please put another "chapter" up not An actual chapter just an authors note telling me why aria couldnt have children. i still dont understand. and if she always had or knew the reason why she couldnt have children. please it would mean the world. i really loved your story. good job._**

Aria has always been infertile and yes, she always knew it. That's why she's such a career woman; she can't have a family of her own so she just decides to focus on something else. But the aneurysm, that she didn't know about.

**_Anon: Fantastically written story...hated the ending. How could you?_**

Hahaha, thank you, and I'm sorry, I had to. I'm a sucker for tragedy.

_**AriaEzraForever: Is really, really sad now. Brilliant story and really well written but I hate the ending! Not so much Aria dying, although that was really sad and painful. It's the idea of Ezra & Spencer getting together that I can't stand. Sorry. Love Spencer but just can't see her with Ezra. So sad that they never got to go to the broadway show. *crying now***_

...Well...technically...Ezra and Aria did go to the broadway show (from the first chapter)...just the baby/daughter Aria, not the adult Aria. Close enough? :D

_**bite-me-im-irish: Fine with the Aria dying part but I'm really not a fan of Spencer/Ezra, no matter how OOC...**_

I'm actually quite surprised to see a lot of non-Spencer/Ezra shippers. But thank you for sticking with me anyway. I'm glad to know what you guys like and don't like.

**_what lies beneath the surface: im really so sorry i just couldnt bring myself to read the last few paragraphs because one of my friends passed away awhile ago of an anueresum_**

I'm really sorry to hear that.

* * *

_And for the rest, I will post a new story soon. I don't know how soon, but I've definitely got a new one ready. Thank you everyone who took the time to comment, good or bad; it's just nice to see a reaction out of someone, to see that they actually care for it enough to say what they feel. It means a lot, and by a lot, I mean a lot. _

_- Queen._


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